One Peice Cinderella
by Tatertwig45
Summary: Luffy is a servant in his cruel step-father, Zolo's, household with his equally unforgiving step-brothers Sanji and Helmeppo. What happens when he is invited to a ball held by Princess Nami, daughter of King Shanks? LxN. CHAPTER 9 UP!
1. Morning Troubles

_** Hello, it's me again! Hope you enjoyed my three other stories! I have now another "Cinderella Story" and I will be writing a Fruits Basket version of one in a short time. This time it's a One Piece version except there are not the characters you would expect and this is not the plot line you would expect either. Thank you Osaka-chan4 for editing! Read and review! **_

_**Note: I do not own One Piece or its characters. They all belong to Eiichiro Oda. (Darn it!) **_

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_**One Piece Cinderella**_

_**Ch 1**_

_ Once upon a time in a castle by the sea, there lived a lord and his lady. The lady bore the lord a child and their days were joyous. But one day, the lord fell sick with an illness that the palace doctor even said he could not cure. The sickness lasted for two months, until finally he uttered his last fatal breath, dying with his wife's hand in his grasp. Hi wife was in grief after his passing and vowed never to take another husband. But that son changed when the Lord of the Seas, a rich and immensely powerful man with two sons, came to where the castle was, seeking a wife. She was beautiful to his sight, and he was handsome to hers. Deaf to her son's protests against the marriage, she married him and he became the boy's step-father. The man did not like that his new wife had a son, and, along with the boy's new step-brothers, teased and treated him unmercifully when the mother wasn't looking. _

_ Years passed and finally the mother fell sick with the disease that her late husband had. She died and the step-father took over as the new lord, adding the castle to his lands. He made the boy a servant and ordered that he had to do all the chores in the castle and sleep in the servants' quarters, his room given to the oldest son. _

_And so, after all that, our story begins. _

* * *

The sunlight shone through the sky, illuminating the sea and making the droplets of dew sparkle on the leaves. The gulls screeched and landed in the orchards, picking the berries for their morning meal. Tile along the pathway leading through the orchards and up to the castle glistened as they were being scrubbed by the servants. Inside the dark castle, servants were busy doing their morning duties, waiting for their lord or their two princes to awaken. All through the hustle and bustle through the hallways, a teenage boy slipped through, trying to get to the oldest Prince's room.

His name was Monkey D. Luffy or Luffy for short and he was once prince of the castle before then Lord and his sons moved in. He had scruffy black hair, a red sea vest, blue jean shorts, and yellow sandals. But the most important feature about his appearance is that on his head was a yellow straw hat with a red band around the hump.

As he was trying to get through, he saw the doorway that led into the Prince's room. Wanting to save time, he stretched his hand through the melee of servants and was about to grab the knob when a shooting pain came to his arm. Withdrawing his throbbing arm as to care for it, he was suddenly hit on the back of the head, which made him fall to the floor. Looking up, he saw one of his step-father's guards with an angry look on his face. Luffy tried to get up but was pushed back down by the guard's foot.

"You know that you are not allowed to use your rubber powers, don't you? I think I remember your step-father saying that, boy!" the guard growled.

"Get off of me! I don't care what my step-father says! I can use my powers whenever I want! Luffy yelled as he struggled to get up.

"Oh you don't, do you? Well, let's just take you to him and see what he says."

He lifted Luffy off the floor and bound his wrists with rope. Luffy struggled against them but they held him tight. He suddenly felt himself being dragged through the hallways to his step-father's room. At the end of the hallway, there were two double doors with dragon heads as knockers.

The guard knocked on the door, and then there was silence on the other side. Just then, Luffy heard a voice that chilled him to the bone.

"What is it now?" the voice hissed angrily.

"My Lord, I have brought the boy because he used his rubber powers when not supposed to. On your command of course."

"Bring him in. Quickly!" the voice ordered.

The guard opened the door and drug Luffy in. Luffy looked around at the dark room with fear. Then his eyes rested on a figure in the shadows that was sitting in a chair. The figure was very tall, with a black bandanna around his head, a black dress shirt that revealed his chest, black pants, a belt with three swords hanging from their sheaths, and black boots.

The figure smirked, with a crack between his lips revealing his gleaming white teeth. The boy glared, with hatred and fear, at the man whom he knew very well. _Very_ well. The guard bowed to his master.

"Lord Zolo, it is good to see you awake. I hope that all is well."

"Yes, all is well. I hear that my 'special servant' has once again disobeyed my rules and very clear commands by using his powers which he is forbidden to use. Is that true." Zolo inquired.

'Yes, my lord, he has. I caught him using his arm to reach the knob of your oldest son's room." The guard said.

'Zolo pondered thoughtfully at this while observing the boy. "I see. So why didn't you stop him before you saw his arm?"

This struck the guard dumb. He tried to say something but nothing came out but a shallow, faint gasp

Zolo smirked, then looked at his servant, who was glaring even more fiercely at his step-father. He stared at the boy's features, then saw the straw hat on top of his head. His smirk grew even wider as he chuckled a little.

"Maybe that will work into my plans after all." He thought.

An ill-feeling invaded Luffy's stomach as he watched his step-father smile at him with evil sick pleasure. He had never liked it when Zolo smiled at him like that. Suddenly he felt something snatched off his head. Luffy looked up and saw that his hat, his most prized possession, was in that sinister man's grasp.

"A peculiar thing, this hat." Zolo wondered. "It is not an object of royalty but you treat it like a jewel, something that is treasured. Something that you would do anything for of it was taken, is that right?"

Luffy glared at Zolo. "I would never do anything, _especially not for you_!"

He jumped up in the air, bulged his arms so that the ropes broke and flew towards his step-father. Just then, he felt his neck being squeezed in what felt like an iron grip, Luffy looked down and saw Zolo holding him by the neck up in the air with a smirk on his face. The rubber boy grabbed the sides of Zolo's hand and tried to escape. Zolo dropped him, but before his servant could escape, the swordsman pinned him to the floor with his boot. Luffy tried to struggle from under it but Zolo held him in place.

'Now where do you think you're going? Don't think that I am going to let you go unpunished." He turned to the guard. "Take him down to the dungeons for 5,000 lashes after he goes and wakes up Sanji and Helmeppo. Go!"

As Zolo said those last few words, he removed his foot from the boys back. The guard picked Luffy up roughly, setting him on the floor, and setting his straw hat back on his head roughly. But before he was taken away, Zolo eyed him dangerously.

"If you disobey any of my other commands _before_ you go and wake my sons_ or_ before breakfast, I will make sure that your beatings are _doubled_! Do I make myself clear,_ servant_?"

Luffy glared at him but nodded as the guard took him back through the double doors and into the hallway, throwing him on the ground.

"Go and do what you lord commands, _boy_!" the guard growled. "You will get worse than beatings if I find that you are not!"

Luffy nodded reluctantly and went upstairs, which were polished black marble with red banisters along the railings. As he passed up the stairs, he felt an ominous feeling, which is what he felt whenever he went up there. He hated going up there because that's where the two princes were, spoiled brats that lived off of their father's wealth, making most of their posh life at everyone else's expense, including his.

He stopped at the first door, opened the door, and went inside to find the curtains drawn closed, blocking the windows and making the room completely dark. He went over to the doors that led out onto the balcony, overlooking the ocean, and drew the curtains, letting sunlight flood the room and into the eyes of one particular person that was sleeping on a navy blue and gold bed with same-colored pillows that had either a gold "S" or a navy blue "S" stitched on them. Sunlight rebounded of the walls and into the room, making the navy blue Persian rug, with a gold anchor on it and the prince's name stitched on the bottom of it in gold letters, sparkle, and refract off of the golden chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling.

Movement was heard as Luffy turned around to see the Prince stirring, opening his eyes, and running his fingers through his blonde hair that ran across his face while he stroked his facial hair on his chin. Then, suddenly noticing, he turned his eyes on Luffy and glared.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm waking you up like your father commanded me to, Sanji!" Luffy growled.

The boy snorted, and leaned over the side of his bed, taking his golden pack of cigarettes and lit one with his obsidian lighter. Closing his eyes in concentration while inhaling the fumes, he then opened them and looked at Luffy in a stern gaze.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to act like a servant and choose my clothes?" he then grinned. "If you make me late, father will punish you even more."

Luffy scowled at his older step-brother and went over to the closet. Opening the door, he saw that it was as big as a small bedroom with one half of the room having black suits with pants and boots to match. The other half had dress shirts and clothes for special occasions. Luffy went and picked out one of the suits, looked at it with disgust, and gave it to Sanji. When he came out of the room, Sanji took one look at it, dusted it off a little, then went into his changing area and put it on. When he came out, he took one glance at Luffy, then pointed downwards.

Luffy sighed again and went over to where his older step-brother was standing. He got out a silver rag that was covered in tarnish and started shining Sanji's boots until they sparkled. Sanji looked down and observed the work until he saw that it was to his expectations, then snapped his fingers, turning towards the door. Luffy saw this, ran over to the door, and opened it. Sanji walked through, looking at Luffy with contempt.

"Hmm…it seems you can open door and be polite about it, runt."

At this, the straw-hat boy saw that Sanji was halfway through the door and, with all his might, slammed the door into Sanji's face. When he opened the door, he saw that Sanji was lying on his back, hands covering his face with blood seeping through them, and rocking back and forth, moaning in agony. Luffy suddenly felt guilty because of this and went over to his step-brother.

"Sanji? Are you okay?" Luffy asked, kneeling down to his brother's side, face full of concern.

"_You little brat! Step away from my brother!" _a voice yelled from across the hall.

Luffy turned to see a boy with blond mushroom-styled hair with pink rollers in it, a long thin face, a pink bathrobe and white bunny slippers, standing there furiously pointing a finger at him. This was Helmeppo, another one of Zolo's sons and youngest, by two years in Luffy's case, of the step-brothers, not to mention the wimpiest.

Before Luffy could say anything, Helmeppo turned and started to walk down the hallway to the stairs. "I don't want to hear what you have to say! You're still going to be in trouble whether you like it or not!"

He started down the staircase to the dining room, walking briskly so as to go and tell Zolo, when he felt himself being grabbed on his shirt collar and lifted up into the air. Helmeppo froze, seeing that a guard was the one holding him.

"Where do you think you're going in such a hurry? And why are you not dressed?" a voice asked.

Helmeppo's eyes widened as he turned his head to look at his father, Zolo, who was right beside the guard on the staircase. Sweat started running down his face as he started trembling and stammering.

"F-father, it is good to see you awake. Uh-um…oh, yes. The reason is that I wanted to tell you that Luffy, that wretched servant, slammed the door into Sanji's face."

"Did he now?" Zolo said as he chuckled a little, "Well, well, that boy must want more punishment than I had already ordered. Show them to me."

Helmeppo nodded, then went upstairs, his father and the guard following him. When they got up the stairs, Luffy looked and saw his step-father with Helmeppo behind him, smiling. Zolo did not look happy at the scene that was displayed. Not happy at all. Luffy glared at Helmeppo.

"_That little son-of-a-bitch actually told!" _he thought._ "When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna…!" _

Luffy didn't have time to finish the thought before he felt himself being tackled away from Sanji and restrained by two guards. Grabbing him by the chin, the guards made Luffy look up as Zolo passed by, glowering, on his way over to Sanji, who was rubbing the bruises on his face. Two physicians had already come up and were checking the prince under their master's supervision.

Sanji was still moaning and was being restrained by two guards while the royal physicians treated his face by putting bandages and ointment where needed. To stop his complaining, one of the doctors pulled a cigarette out from the golden case, lit it, and put it in Sanji's mouth. As it was put in, Sanji immediately smiled like the cigarette was a pacifier.

Zolo, however, looked annoyed as he rolled his eyes, then glanced over at Luffy, who was scowling at both of them. He smirked at him, going over and looking at the guards with a glare.

"Lay him on his back." He commanded.

The guards looked at their master with fear, then, with Luffy trying to get free, laid him on his back so that he was looking up at his step-father.

"Don't try to struggle, boy. It will only make things more difficult for you and I." Zolo said as he came over beside Luffy's neck.

This time, it was Luffy's turn to smirk. "Oh don't worry, I won't. This isn't as bad as what your precious son had to experience."

The Lord of the Seas snickered as he lifted his leg high in the air over Luffy's neck.

_Slam!_ When the boot hit its mark, the boy's eyes flew open in shock. He struggled to breathe as his face turned blue and his air circulation was cut off. He tried to free himself, but the more he struggled, the harder the boot was pushed down. After more than twenty minutes of this horrific punishment, Zolo removed his foot to see that Luffy's face was pale, but as he breathed in and out, it started to get some color back. Luffy felt himself being picked up by two guards, holding both his arms behind his back so he couldn't escape as two other guards came over, putting a large iron collar, with a chain attached to it, around his neck. The collar was so heavy that he could hardly look up to face his step-father.

"I hope you learned your lesson, brat. But don't worry, there will be another one waiting for you down in the dungeons." Zolo's smirk dissipated into a scowl, turning so that his back faced Luffy. "Doctor! What is the report on my son?" he snapped.

The head palace doctor, the one that was with both Luffy's mother and father when they died, came over to his new master, trembling but with some intelligence, and bowed in respect.

"My Lord, the Prince is fine; he just needs a few bandages and some ointment. But keep him in bed for two or three days and his face should be healed."

Meanwhile, Luffy looked past Zolo and the doctor to see Sanji, face still red and bandaged, glaring angrily at him. He saw him silently mouth the words, _"You little brat!"_

"Perhaps, sire, the servant boy could bring him his meals or anything else he needs." The doctor inquired.

This made Zolo smirk as he glanced at Luffy with a glint in his eye. "Yesssss, I think that would work." But then his thoughts were interrupted as he held up one finger and closed his eyes in concentration. "No, he shall get no punishment! What I had already told him is that he would get double the beatings I had ordered this morning. He shall receive the beatings and stay in the dungeons until I see fit."

The doctor nodded. "Yes My Lord. I guess I will go and see that Prince Helmeppo is doing fine, and not injured because of the servant's reckless behavior."

Zolo fixated on the doctor with a glare, which made Luffy's spine tingle as a result of the expression in his step-father's eyes. "No! I shall tell the other doctors to look at him. _You_, however, had better focus on healing my son!" He then turned his head to gaze a Luffy, who gulped. "Guards! Take this troublemaker to the dungeon and put him in his "special cell." I will be down to talk with him in an hour."

The guards bowed, dragging Luffy off to the dungeon. As Zolo observed them, he smiled, and then walked off.

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_**Whew! Such a long chapter! I had planned on making this chapter two chapters but then I saw how I had written it and it was better as it was since I couldn't find a good stopping place where it wouldn't change the story. So you have met four of the ten main characters that are going to be important in the story. In the next chapter you will meet another one that is in fact from the manga and one that I haven't made up. In your reviews, guess who it is. (Hint: He is from Vol. 1) I would like to thank Osaka-chan4 for editing! Love you! **_

_**See you in the next chapter! ~Tatertwig45**_


	2. Captain Morgan

_**Hola! It is me again! Thank you for all of your reviews! I really appreciate them! Chapter 2 isn't going to be as long as the previous one. Thank you for all of your guesses about who the next new character was going to be! I know this is short but I really don't have much else to say except read and review! **_

_**Note: I do not own One Piece or its characters. They all belong to Eiichiro Oda. (Darn it!) **_

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_**One Piece Cinderella**_

_**Ch 2**_

Down in the lower part of the castle, below the dungeons, a large figure was sitting on a stool with a gigantic grinding stone in front of him. Sparks were flying in every direction as a large metal object was being scraped against the stone as it was turning. Suddenly the door opened as a guard entered in. One look at the figure sent chills shivers up the soldier's spine as he saluted the man. The person at the grinding stone turned with a scowl, but only far enough that the guard could see what looked like something metal on his chin.

"What?" he growled

The guard stammered as his knees trembled with fear. "Uhm Captain… the "special" servant is… here."

The man glared at the guard, getting up from the stone as though it was a great pain to move from it. Pushing him out of the way with a large metal ax for a hand, the captain went through the door of the prison where he quickly eyed two guards with a boy between them. Smirking with pleasure, the man went over to the boy, who looked up at him and gave him a glare.

"So your step-father sent you down to me again, eh Luffy?"

Luffy stared directly into the captain's eyes. "If I could, Morgan, I would wipe that smirk right off your face with one swing. Of course, fighting someone with metal on their chin, I wouldn't call it fair, now would I?"

Captain Morgan gave a little chuckle, shoving his chin towards Luffy. "And I wouldn't call being made of rubber fair either. Wouldn't you say?"

Luffy tried to say something, but then kept quiet. There was no winning their many arguments when one wrong word could send that ax of a hand slicing through his neck. Morgan drew away from him, smiling triumphantly, and began circling his adversary, like a lion with its prey.

"Your step-father is getting tired of sending you down to the dungeons every time you misbehave. Of course my opinion is that you actually like being down here so that you don't have to do any work. Isn't that why you pulled that little stunt by smashing the door into Sanji's face?"

Luffy looked away. That wasn't the answer, but he just didn't want to get into an argument with that imbecile of a captain. Captain Morgan smiled and stopped circling, stepping off to the side, but still keeping his eyes on Luffy.

"Let's hope that the beatings you receive will render that mouth of yours dumb from this day forward."

This time it was Luffy's turn to give the medicine back at Morgan.

"But won't you miss all the sarcastic remarks that you get from me?" he asked sarcastically.

This didn't change the captain's tune as Morgan's smile grew into a full out grin. He was still grinning as he slid his ax hand underneath the boy's chin where it was barely touching his neck. Luffy gulped as he realized his error.

"Not quite." The captain said softly. Glancing at the guards that were holding Luffy, his demeanor transformed into annoyance. "Chain him to the far wall." He turned to the guard that had told him of Luffy's presence. "How many lashes did our lord order for the brat?"

"About five-thousand, Capitan." The man said.

"Five-thousand it is." Morgan ordered.

And so, with his vest ripped to shreds showing his bare back, Luffy received five-thousand whip lashings.

* * *

Meanwhile, in one of the towers of the castle, lightning crackled in the sky as thunderclouds loomed overhead. Near the window that looked out towards the ocean, Helmeppo stood, sneering in contempt and frustration at what had happened just moments earlier. After the incident, Zolo had decide not to eat, but did order that his meal be brought to his room and was not to be disturbed.

'_Sanji was always father's favorite!'_ Helmeppo thought with disdain. '_If something goes wrong that the servant did not cause, I'm always blamed for it, but not punished. Sanji has never, ever been on father's bad side! Ever! Everyone always says that he is the favorite, but what about me? I am Father's child too, you know!' _

In a chair, behind him near the fireplace, his father sat with a servant beside him who was holding a wine pitcher, refilling the glass that his master was holding. Zolo had gotten over it much more quickly than the rest of the household. Luffy was just a servant looking for some attention and Sanji happened to be in the right place at the right time, nothing more, and certainly not as serious as everyone else believed. His punishment would prove to be justifiable and Zolo was pleased that if anyone could set the brat straight, it was Captain Morgan, the commander of the palace guards when his other captains were not around. When the other captains were around, however, he was just an ordinary dungeon keeper, not of very influential status.

The silence lasted for about an hour, both of them thinking, until Helmeppo decided to say something and break the stillness.

"I don't understand why you don't just kill him, Father. He would be gone, you would have him out of your hair, and he wouldn't cause any more trouble for you, me, Sanji, or anyone else in this castle for that matter. You have the power to do that, don't you?"

Zolo looked up in surprise and amusement at his son's proposition. "Are you that naïve and blind that you don't think that I have tried?"

But that answer was less than satisfactory for Helmeppo, who narrowed his eyes. "Only when that mother of his was alive, but now you do nothing!"

Zolo's face went from surprise to anger. _'How dare him!' _

Unfortunately Helmeppo saw this little flicker of change in his father's unpredictable mood, which made his face drain of color until it was a pasty white. He swore flames appeared in Zolo's eyes, which made it all the more uncomfortable, as the swordsman lord stood up, gave his win glass to a servant, and slowly walked over to him as the prince was trembling in fear, already kneeled on the ground.

Without so much as a warning, Helmeppo felt himself fly through the air and land, sprawled on the floor against a far wall. Blood was dripping from his temple, shock, mixed in with pain dealt by the surprise blow, running through his body. His only noise was ragged gasps of pain and trying to catch his breath as he heard those dreaded footsteps come across the floor towards his broken body. He felt himself lifted up by his collar, not wanting to face his father with his tears streaming down his face, but feeling Zolo's glare, which burned with intensity.

"I do not know why I was cursed to have a son such as you!" Zolo growled angrily. "You think that I will fight your battles for you, when Sanji hasn't come running to me or any of the guards since he was small? This little display proves that you are not a Prince, nor will you ever be my son! You know what you are? _Worthless_! Utterly, completely_ worthless_!You are better off in the streets rather in this castle or even in my presence. There you will know how the world is and how you will be treated, which is harsher and colder than you would ever be treated here! Don't ever tell me that I didn't do anything to prevent the servant boy from being banished!" he then turned away, dropping Helmeppo.

Helmeppo quivered with fear and shock as he heard the hateful words come from his father. Of course why should he be surprised? Zolo was always like that to him. The tears streaming down his face became bitter as he gritted his teeth to keep from crying out and becoming even lower that what his father already thought of him. Zolo would never do this to Sanji. Never! Only him. But perhaps it wouldn't hurt for him to try and beg for forgiveness.

"But F-f-f-ather. I-i-i-i….!" Helmeppo began feebly before he was suddenly cut off.

"Quiet!" his father's words cut through the air like one of his three deadly swords which Helmeppo had never met before, and he never planned on meeting them in the future. "Do not argue with me and never talk back to me! You, of all people should know that my word is law and anyone who disrespects it shall and will be punished." He smirked with a small chuckle. "Now, we would not want that," he drew closer to Helmeppo's face which was all but dripping sweat. "Would we?"

The boy's hands were trembling, and, with eyes widened, he squeaked, "N-n-no, Father."

Zolo observed his son's embarrassment a little while longer, before he turned on his heel and went to the door, down to the dungeons, with the cupbearer and two guards following him gladly thinking that they were not in the prince's shoes.

All was silent in the tower as Helmeppo heard the last of the footsteps down the stone stairs. Even the fire was beginning to burn low. He had stifled his cries until his father had left, for fear that they would cause him to be punished and lectured even more, but now they were beginning to escape. So Helmeppo ran down from the tower to his bedroom, cries of anguish emitting from him, as he went in and locked the door.

Throwing himself upon his white and navy blue pillows, his tears fell, wetting the pillows, as he thought of how disappointed he had made his father and how it was all that cursed Luffy's fault.

"_I'm never going to be on Sanji's level for Father's affections! Why can't he get into trouble for once, just like him and Luffy? If Luffy got into trouble, I would be back in Father's graces and not be the outcast!" _

He suddenly gasped as he heard his thoughts.

'_That's it! If I blame something on Luffy that he could never get away with, then all of my problems will be solved. I shall be loved again by Father! But it has to be something big! Something that will have to take days, even months to plan! Perfect!" _

Helmeppo smiled. Soon he would be back in his father's favor. Oh yes, very soon! And Luffy would be the one to get him there!

* * *

_**Ahhh! Helmeppo has a plan to get our hero in trouble! Will it work? Will Luffy ever get out of the dungeon? Will I ever be able to finish this story? Find out by reading the next few chapters! Thank you Osaka-chan4 for editing! Review please! ~Tatertwig **_


	3. Enter Princess Nami!

_**Welcome back to **__**One Piece Cinderella **__**Chapter 3! So far not a lot has happened to our hero. But you are not going to meet our hero in this chapter. There is a whole new list of characters in this one! So read and review!**_

_**Note: I do not own One Piece or its characters. They all belong to Eiichiro Oda. (Darn it!) **_

* * *

_**One Piece Cinderella**_

_**Ch 3**_

Farther away from Zolo's castle, a white castle sat on a hill, opposed to Zolo's black one. Red banisters and flags lined the walkway towards the front gate. Every servant was whistling cheerfully or smiling as they did their chores and duties, unlike the servants in Zolo's castle who always looked paranoid and fearful. But in Shank's castle there were sad or fearful faces to be found.

In a large, ornate room, decorated with tapestries and paintings lining the walls, a red-haired man with red facial hair on his chin, a crown on his head, a red and white ermine-lined robe draped over his shoulders, a red shirt, white pants and black boots, looked at someone with a smile on his face, like a fatherly smile.

That 'someone' was an orange-haired teenage girl, wearing a sea blue and green dress with high-heels on. King Shanks, the red-haired man, who was also the king of the entire realm and the father of the girl who was kneeling.

"Nami, you can stand now my child." He said as he reached a hand out and cupped the girl's chin so that she looked at him. Nami, who was the daughter and princess over the whole land that her father ruled, looked up at Shanks and smiled as she stood up with her hand on his.

Her father looked at her in pride.

"Your mother would be so proud of you if she was here. You have grown up so much. Which is why we must find you a husband."

Nami wasn't expecting this at all. Her face fell. "Now?" she asked, shocked. "But I'm not even the right age yet. Why now, Father?"

Shanks was amused at his daughter's answer. "Because Nami, you are of age. And if you are of age, then you should be looking for a husband that could be an heir for me and make you able to produce children."

"But Father!" Nami protested. "I don't want one. I don't feel like I'm ready for one."

Shank's smile was soothing and kind as he stood up and took her face in his hands. "My darling, don't worry. If you are nervous about this matter, then I am thinking that we should have a ball so that you might meet some young men that you might like and ultimately want to marry. What do you think to this?"

Nami frowned a little bit as she was contemplating, then smiled, making her father smile also. "I think I could live with that. Thank you Father!" she said as she stood up and hugged him, which made Shanks hug her even tighter, picking her up off the floor.

When they were done, Shanks put Nami down and put his hands on her shoulders. "Remember, if you do meet that special young man, consult me first so that I may meet him and make my decision before you two decide to 'do anything'."

He gave a wink at the last part, which made Nami laugh. Her father was never strict with her, even when she got in trouble. To him, she was the greatest treasure that any man could posses.

Nami gave the wink back to her father. "Don't worry, we won't." she said as she gave him a smile.

Shanks kissed her cheek. "That's my girl. Now, I have some work to do and you have to be planning for the ball, don't you?"

His daughter bowed and went out the door, and as Shanks watched her, a tear came to his eye.

"Feeling sentimental sire?" a voice from behind him asked.

The king turned his head to see that it was Ussop, a duke that lived in the castle and Shanks' best friend. Ussop had this distinguished air about him that made people think that he was too stuck up for his own good. Dressed in the colors of the castle that was fancier than most with a glass monocle hanging from his nose, he had made their opinions finalized.

Shanks laughed. "I very well could be." He then turned and looked off into the distance as he thought about how grown up Nami was. "She is just growing up so fast. I feel as though it were yesterday that I was holding her in my arms and now she's looking for a husband to settle down with and get married." He smiled as he turned to the duke. "Have you ever felt that way, Ussop?"

This question made Ussop turn away from the king, close his eyes, sticking his nose up in the air and snort with indifference. "Well I never have had any children, so no, I have never ever felt that way and I plan not ever going to. It will be good when she is gone, sire. Mark my words; it will be quieter at least."

But Shanks laughed again and patted his friend on the back. "Maybe you feel that way, but I don't. It will be lonely without her." He went off into a daze as he was thinking about his statement, but then another thought penetrated his mind and he snapped out of the other. "Ussop, do you have any news for me? Important news first."

Ussop unraveled a scroll that he had procured from his pocket, and skimmed it. "Well, your majesty, you have received a message from Lord Zolo commanding that your monthly tribute is due to him or else he will become king and you, the princess, and I will become servants to him and his sons. In a condensed version or course." Ussop skimmed some more down the document. "There were also various threats if you do not. But not to worry, your majesty, you always pay on time." He paused as he went down, talking in mutters. "But on to other news…"

He looked up to see if Shanks was listening, but as he did, he saw that the king's face was ashen and a look of horror was in his eyes.

"Master?" the duke asked, as he reached out to the red-haired man.

"RRRGHHH!" Shanks suddenly smashed a fist into a table beside him, leaving an enormous crack, but also making Ussop scream in fright, widening his eyes. "How does _that_ _man_, t-that man have the power to order me, _the king_, around like a common servant?"

Ussop, frightened by his master's fury, shook and stammered. "W-well, y-your majesty…he does have the forces to back up the threats, and you did agree with the deal that you two made a long time ago."

"But isn't there some way to break it?" Shanks asked as he paced the floor in front of Ussop. "Some possible way to but without angering him too much that our lives are in danger, especially Nami?"

Ussop shook his head. "I'm afraid not sire. Lord Zolo will be angry if you do. And I also have another announcement concerning him. He has ordered you to come and having a meeting with him."

"I will agree with the meeting, but I will not agree with him telling me that I have to give him the monthly payment. I shall have to talk to him about that in our little 'meeting'."

"But sire, he has a much stronger army than you. If you don't give him what he asks for, the might of his armies will come and we will be doomed!" Ussop franticly said.

Shanks patted the duke on the back. "Not to worry, my friend. All will be fine. Lord Zolo will not hurt you, me, or Nami if he is happy with what he wants."

Ussop slowly glanced up at him. "You mean you will give him what he asks for?"

Shanks only smiled and went off to his room. "After the meeting I will." He shouted back.

The duke, alone, slumped to the floor in utter exhaustion.

"_We're doomed_." He thought

* * *

_**So now you got to meet the king, princess, and duke. There is just one more character to meet and that is in the next chapter. Will Nami be able to meet the man of her dreams at the ball? Who will it be? Find out in the next chapter of **__**An One Piece Cinderella**__**! Thank you Osaka-chan2 for editing! See ya!**_

_**~Tatertwig45 **_


	4. The Meeting

_**Hi again! It's me, Tatertwig45! Welcome to chapter 4 of **__**An One Piece Cinderella**__**! So you think you have met all of the characters, but you will be introduced to the final one in this chapter. Read and review! **_

_**Note: I do not own One Piece or its characters. They all belong to Eiichiro Oda. (Darn it!) **_

* * *

_**One Piece Cinderella**_

_**Ch 4**_

Down in the dungeons, chained to a gray stone wall with whip marks on his back, Luffy was trying not to wince in pain because of the lashings he had received. He had drawn a little bit of blood from his lip as he sat, looking out of the bars at the blank wall that was on the other side. He was becoming so bored that he began to count the white grout in between the bricks on the wall.

_"Twenty-thousand-five-hundred-and-sixty-three….twenty-thousand-five-hundred-and-sixty-four…twenty-thousand-five-hundred-and-sixty-five…"_

Just then he heard voices from upstairs and a sudden click of heels as the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, someone opening the door then closing it. Zolo stood at the top of the stairs leading down into the dungeon with Captain Morgan beside him. On Zolo's right stood another large muscular man smoking a large cigar and had white hair standing straight in the air. Every time the man's mouth moved, a large puff of smoke came from the cigar and filled the air.

Zolo stepped downstairs with the man and Morgan following him like faithful dogs. As Zolo stood in front of Luffy's cell, he gave a sharp look to Morgan, who went behind him and untied his bandanna, took it off, and laid it carefully on a black-tasseled red pillow with a black 'Z' in the middle of it.

Zolo closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Ahh that's much better. It was starting to get very unpleasant."

Glancing up at Zolo, Luffy saw that underneath the bandanna his step-father's hair was a light green and short. He also had pirate-like earrings in both ears. The most peculiar thing though was that his skin tone was tan, which Luffy hadn't noticed until now, not that he liked looking at Zolo anyway.

There was a sudden pain on his back as the cuts stung him every time he breathed. Morgan had done his work well and thorough. If the guard had whipped him some more, muscle and tendons would be showing and his back would look like it had gone through a shredder, as if it already didn't. Luffy's agonizing movement made Zolo smile.

"I believe that I will commend my captain for excellent work on punishing the boy. _However_…" the swordsman lord turned to the iron-jawed Morgan and glared. "He needs to not only learn what he gets for defying me and doing what he did to Sanji, but also how to be more like a servant and less what he thinks he should be." Zolo paused and looked at Luffy smugly. "Or what he _used_ to be. I expect his manner towards me and my sons to be better this time. Do you think you will be able to do it, Captain?" he spat the last word as Captain Morgan cringed under his fierce look with widened eyes. "Or will you fail me once again like you have in the past?"

"I will not fail you My Lord. I will make sure that the boy learns his lesson." The quivering captain said as he bowed.

This however did not seem to appease Zolo as he walked past Morgan, who was on the ground, and stood while the other captain went behind him and put the bandanna around his head. "I want not a word out of him while I am having my meeting with the king. Which means you will stay down here and keep the boy silent. Do I make myself clear?" he asked as he glared more fiercely at his idiot of a captain.

The captain's quivering turned to shaking as he bowed again. "Yes My Lord, c-crystal clear-r."

Zolo smirked at his captain fear, then turned and went back up to the interior of the castle. As he was going up the stairs, he turned and looked down at Luffy, then to Morgan, whose face was already ashen.

"Remember." Zolo said low as he punctuated the words to make his point. "_Not. A. Word_."

Captain Morgan only gasped because he was already speechless with fear.

As the door shut behind his lord and his fellow captain, his face went back into its regular position, with his mouth closing with a _clang_ from the metal on his chin. Furiously, he turned to look at Luffy in a glare, suddenly shooting his arm through Luffy's cell, that his ax-hand was almost touching the boy's neck. Luffy's eyes widened as he saw Morgan come closer, so close that he could smell the cigar smoke. Beads of sweat started dripping from his face as the ax had almost gotten close to decapitating him.

"Listen brat." Morgan growled. "If you embarrass me like what you did, you will regret the day that you were ever born. And I can easily make sure of that, now can't I?"

Shaking with fear as the weapon was under his chin, Luffy nodded, then sighed to himself.

"This is going to be a long night."

* * *

The moon shone up in the sky as it illuminated a red-and-white carriage rolling down the road. It stopped a little and turned onto a stone drive to the front doors of Zolo's castle. He coachman came down from the seat in the front of the carriage and opened the door, letting Ussop out first, then Shanks with a soldier behind them. They walked up to the door, but before they could knock upon it, the doors opened by two servants, with another bowing and leading them into a black and red room with two red couches and two black chairs side by side, but one was raised on a small platform so that it was higher than the other. Zolo was sitting in the one on the platform with one leg crossed over the other, while the captain, who was called Captain Smoker was in the one beside him.

Two servants went up behind Shanks and Ussop and removed their coats and hats while another two put chairs behind them. The king and the duke sat down, with Ussop suddenly falling. He looked down and saw that he was forced to sit on a tiny stool that apparently came from the kitchen. Shanks let out a little chuckle at his friend while Ussop glared at him, but then chuckled too. Soon their chuckles became bursts of laughter, but were stopped by Zolo clearing his throat.

"I hate to interrupt such…revelry, but we do have a meeting of topics to discuss, don't we?"

This made Shanks stop laughing and nodded, "Yes we do. I apologize for mine and my duke's behavior."

Narrowing his eyes, Zolo took a sip from his crystal wine glass before speaking. "Now, the primary topic is your payment to me. Do you have it?"

Shanks was handed a glass of wine, which he kindly denied and was brought one of water. He took a sip of it, and Ussop was handed a glass of wine, which he too, took a sip.

"Well Zolo…" Shanks began before being cut off by Zolo clearing his throat in a commanding tone.

"I-I mean, My Lord. I wanted to talk about that. I do not have it, but I think that I shouldn't have to pay you just because you are a lord and I am higher than you in status because I am king. No disrespect to you but I think I should receive payment from you."

Just as he said those words, Shanks immediately thought that he should have taken his statement back. He looked at Zolo to see his reaction to his courageous statement, but Zolo just snickered just a little as he shook his head in disbelief at the king's words.

"My dear King Shanks, have you forgotten what treaty was made all those years ago? Are you really that ignorant of the pact?" Zolo asked.

"Let me remind you that you that you signed a contract saying that you would be king when I was lord over your realm, and I would be a lord. _But_…you would pay tribute to me every month or the treaty was null and void. I would take over and you, your duke, and your daughter would become my servants forever. Now, I do think I remember that now don't I? For I do not make my threats blindly, as I have the forces and soldiers backing them up. Unlike you who maybe has only a few hundred men, my men number in the thousands and tens of thousands. Do you understand my point?"

Shanks considered all that Zolo said and bowed his head in defeat. "Yes of course. I understand" then he thought of another point. "But I think…" but he was stopped by Zolo who glared at him.

"You think? I do not care what you think! You dare to disobey the treaty? I would think that a man such as you would have more respect than that!"

"I-I do…my lord." Shank's answered as shame spread across his face, making it as red as his hair.

Zolo smiled in amusement. Shanks was not a king, but rather a peasant in kingly robes and a crown. Some day he would fall and Zolo would take his kingdom, daughter, and servants and add them to his wealth. Someday that day would come, but not now. He would wait until that time was right to take over.

Meanwhile as Zolo and Shanks were talking, Helmeppo was outside the door of the parlor, listening. Even though he was still in trouble with his father, he still liked to listen to Zolo's conversations with Shanks. If he was caught…well, he didn't want to think about that right now.

"But…well…" the fight was out of Shanks as he slumped down in defeat. There was no clear answer since Zolo had brought Nami into the conversation. "I guess I shall pay the amount that I owe you."

As Zolo heard the exhausted king's words, he smirked as his convincing had finally gotten through at last. "Excellent, Shanks. Do not worry about your daughter and servants. I will not attack unless you do this to me again. Now I believe that you have a daughter that is waiting for you at home, is that right?"

Shanks nodded and bowed reluctantly. He would have said something to this false lord, but he did not want to argue with a man who could do anything that he pleased and have no one stop him. He wanted to stop Zolo, but if that meant putting Nami in danger, then it was better to leave it as it was. Shanks was hopeful that soon someone would stand up to the likes of Zolo and put an end to his cruel tyranny, and the world would be a better place, safe from tyrants and people of that disposition. It would be brighter, mark his words, so much brighter.

As he turned to go, he glanced down at Ussop, who had all but been ignored, and saw him glaring furiously at Zolo, who was giving him a glare also.

"Will you tell your monkey-duke to behave as his title allows and not like some child?" Zolo asked as he was still smirking. "It really is quite embarrassing. But then again, your whole court is nothing but fools who do not have any discipline whatsoever! Your soft heart is the cause of that! Now my court is nothing compared to yours, because I would never allow my servants to behave in such a manner. You do though."

Shanks scowled, but didn't retaliate. He was too wise for that. Instead he went behind Ussop and tapped him on the shoulder. "Ussop?"

Ussop didn't answer but kept his eyes on Zolo.

"Ussop?"

No answer.

Shanks had had about enough of this foolishness, and he didn't want Zolo to think anymore less of him that he already did. "USSOP!"

This got the duke's attention as he flew straight up in the air and landed in Captain Smokers lap. At first he didn't know where he was, but then he saw the furious eyes of Smoker and went instantly pale. Smiling, he patted Smoker's face, took his cigar and smoked some of it, put it back in the Captain's mouth, patted his face again, the took off running out the door, slamming Helmeppo into the wall and knocking a whole group of servants over like they were bowling pins.

Shanks just chuckled at his friend's tomfoolery, but Zolo was less than amused. The king saw that the swordsman had about enough of him and followed Ussop out the door, got in the carriage, and drove away from the castle. When the king had left, Zolo sat for just a few minutes, smiling and shaking his head wearily. His ears suddenly picked up a sound outside the door and, at the snap of his fingers, the door opened to reveal Helmeppo being held up by his shirt collar by a guard.

Helmeppo smiled up hopefully at his father, but only received a glare, which made his face drop. "Take him up to his room." Zolo ordered.

Helmeppo's frown got even deeper as felt himself being taken upstairs. After he was seen no more, Zolo took a sip of wine, and then with two guards following him, went up to his room for the night.

_Idiot boy!_

* * *

_**Yay! Chapter 4 is finally done! Now that you have seen how Shanks is treated by Zolo, I wonder what will happen in the morning. The only hint I can give about the next chapter is that Nami is in it. Review! See you in the next chapter! **_

_**~Tatertwig45**_


	5. That Strange Boy

_** I'm sorry that I haven't written in a while! School and homework have taken up much of my time and I haven't had any time to do anything. But soon school will be out and I will be free! Sorry…I'm rambling! So anyway, back to the story! Welcome to chapter 5! The meeting has happened and Shanks has gone home disappointed and angry. How will the story go from here? Read and review! **_

_**Note: I do not own One Piece or its characters. They all belong to Eiichiro Oda. (Darn it!) **_

* * *

_**One Piece Cinderella**_

_**Chapter 5**_

_**That Strange Boy**_

Morning came to the two castles and the white curtains with red trim in Nami's room shone with a brilliance that sent the sun rays into Nami's eyes, making them flutter dreamily and open. Yawning, she got up and stretched, rubbing her eyes as two maids came in. The maids started to go into her closet to pick out her clothing, but Nami waved them away and went into the house-sized closet herself. Searching amid hundreds of clothes, even though she wasn't as spoiled as some girls her age with rich parents, she picked out white sleeveless dress that came to her knees with black crisscrossing lines on it. With the dress, she picked out black knee-high boots and black velvet arm-length gloves. To top off her outfit, she snatched a black cowboy hat from her hat stand and put it on.

Now she was ready.

After freshening up by putting perfume on, she went out the door and down the stairs to the dining room. When she entered the room, she sat down at her place at the table and waited on her father and the duke to enter. She didn't have to wait long before Shanks entered in through the door, followed by a sleepy-eyed Ussop, who didn't like waking up in the mornings, but since Shanks was such an early riser, he has to. The red-haired king kissed Nami on top of her head as he passed by on his way to his chair at the head of the table.

"Good morning my child how was your rest?" he asked.

They were served their breakfast and Nami thought it would be a perfect time to ask her father about what had happened last night. "It was well, Father. How was your meeting with Lord Zolo?"

As she had uttered that sentence, Shank's face immediately froze as his skin went pale.

Ussop turned from his master to Nami with a disapproving glance. "Don't ask your father such ridiculous questions this early in the morning. You know better than that!" he scolded.

Shanks gave him a warning glance. Nami just ignored the duke, but her father hadn't answered her and that made her uneasy. "What happened at the meeting?" she asked worriedly.

Shanks just sighed with a grave expression on his face. He wasn't going to tell his daughter just yet about the deal, lest she start to think that they were poor or middle-class, which they weren't. But as he looked at his daughter, he could not be happy, and so he decided to tell her some of what he and Zolo had talked about.

"I tried to tell him that he should be paying tribute to me, instead of me paying tribute to him. But when I told him and tried to reason he just laughed and told me that I had to obey the treaty. Out of humiliation, I gave him into his demands."

Nami had a quizzical expression on her face as she listened to her father's words. "Treaty? What treaty?"

"I'll tell you when you're older." Shanks replied. "No need to worry about it now."

Nami was becoming frustrated that her father wasn't telling her the truth about this "Secret Treaty" but then thought to herself that she should learn more about it. Maybe searching through some documents and boxes would help, or bribing a guard or two that knew about it.

Excusing herself from the table, she was almost out the door when Shanks called her back in. "Nami! What about the invitations to your ball for a suitable husband? Are you going to send those out?"

The invitations! She had completely forgotten about them!

"I shall write and send them out, Father." She answered as she was headed towards the door.

"Good! Get to it then!" Shanks said happily to his daughter.

Nami nodded the rushed back upstairs to her room, called a servant in, and told him to write out the invitations to the ball.

* * *

About three hours and 1,000,000 invitations later, Nami was putting her father's seal on the last ones, until she got to the final letter and thought about it for a while. Finally she wrote it and sent it along with all the other invitations, but planted a kiss on it before she gave it to the messenger.

After the messenger left, Nami went to her balcony and looked out onto the valley, her father's men training in the courtyard below, and then looked across the river to see Zolo's castle, a cold shiver going up her spine as she did so. Looking at the glass, black-curtained windows of the palace, Nami then glanced down at the bottom of the castle. What she saw made her eyes widen in shock.

A black-haired boy with a red sea-vest was leaning near the barred opening, looking out glumly. It seemed as though he had an itch and as he tried to scratch it, he couldn't because his wrist was shackled and connected to a chain, which was connected to a stone wall. As he tried to pull his arm up, the cuff prevented that and any other movement. Nami immediately felt pity for the boy that was in this cruel state. As she observed him, her pity grew into despair as she found that she could do nothing.

Suddenly her face brightened as her expression dissolved into one of planning. "Maybe Father could do something!" she thought happily.

Rushing out of her room to find Shanks, she ran past the servant, that was busy making sure that the invitations were stacked in a orderly fashion, making them fall and scatter all over the floor. The servant, who had spent three hours stacking, slumped to the floor in utter despair as he thought about having to stack them again.

* * *

Nami scurried down to the dining room as quick as she could, thinking that her father and the duke were still there. But when she got to the door and went in she found no one. So she went and found his room, which was in the west wing of the castle and knocked upon the door, no bigger than a servant's door. Nami had always made fun of the door because it was so small, but her father told her that he felt humbled by it because it showed that he was a human being, just like the servants, and that a door wasn't there just to show off wealth. Hearing voices inside, she waited until she heard Ussop tell Shanks that the door had been knocked.

"Come in." her father said.

As she entered, she glanced at her father and worry came over her as she saw Shanks sitting near the fireplace with Ussop putting a wet rag on his forehead. He looked strangely, almost sickly, pale.

"Father! What has happened to you?" she gasped.

As she was about to go out and call for the doctor, as Ussop _should_ have been doing, instead of allowing the king to suffer like this, she felt Shanks put a hand on her shoulder, easing her back down to his side.

"I am not ill, darling, Simply feeling pale, that's all. Now what is it that you wanted to see me about?"

"I was out on my balcony, Father and I saw Lord Zolo's castle. Looking at the castle, I saw a small cell window, with a black-haired boy in it. It was the saddest sight because his wrists were chained and he couldn't even reach up and scratch his head. Could we help him? I'm sure Lord Zolo wouldn't mind if we took even one prisoner off his hands. Please Father?" Nami looked up at Shanks with pleading eyes, which made him force out a small smile at his persistent daughter.

He sighed and lifted his daughter's chin with his finger and smiled at her, which made her smile back. "I will try, but I am not making any promises. Zolo still has no control over the boy and I am not allowed to go and take anything of his. I am making this one promise: I will try and know who the boy is and why he's there when I rescue him…if I can."

Nami smiled, hugging her father, and almost knocking Ussop over. Ussop got up and brushed himself off, giving a sour look to Nami, who stuck her tongue out at him. He glared at her and was about to say something to Shanks, but Shanks put two fingers to Ussop's mouth and "shushed" him. The duke sat back down with his arms crossed, grumbling.

"Thank you Father!" Nami said excitedly, running out of the room. Ussop was only happy that Nami was gone, and held the wet rag to Shank's forehead, but then saw him turn around and smile.

"Your majesty?" Ussop asked uncertainly.

Suddenly he felt himself lifted up off the floor in a huge hug by Shanks. His face was in his master's shoulder, smothering him and making him turn blue.

"Ussop do you know what this means?" Shank's asked. "Nami is in love! My little girl is in love! Oh, this is the happiest day any father could ever dream of! Do you not feel happy my friend?"

"Oh yes, your majesty, very much so." The duke mumbled, but you couldn't make out the words because Shank's robe was covering his mouth.

Shanks set his servant down and grabbed the duke's shoulders, grinning from ear to ear."This is brilliant! Oh I prayed that she would meet someone at the ball, but she doesn't have to as she has met someone out of the blue." He then let go and went over to the window that lead out onto the balcony. "I wonder who he is and why he's a prisoner in Zolo's castle."

"Yes I wonder the same thing sire." Ussop said sarcastically.

"Well it doesn't matter! Nami is in love with him!" Shanks cried letting go of Ussop, obviously not catching the duke's snide remark, and began jumping up and down in excitement.

"But sire, why does it matter? If the boy is in Lord Zolo's dungeon, then there is nothing we can do." Ussop pointed out, suddenly stopping the king in a mid-jump.

This remark made Shanks fall to the floor, landing on his feet, and he thought about what his friend had said. "Yes you are right." He said solemnly as his face fell, slumping in his chair with disappointment. "Zolo has control in everything I do." His face then straightened up as he contemplated. "But it doesn't mean that I couldn't sneak him out of there."

Ussop's eyes widened as his mouth dropped open in shock at what he had just heard. "Sire! That is suicide and will surely get you captured! Then Lord Zolo will call off the treaty and I, you, and Princess Nami will become servants. I am certain that I would not want to be on their level."

Shanks laughed as he patted Ussop's back. "Well the only level that you're on right now is Zolo's. Why do you not feel the same way I do about Nami finding this boy in the place that is our enemy? It is a miracle that today, after I had a terrible meeting with Zolo, that this boy would suddenly catch my daughter's eye."

Ussop huffed. "Because your majesty, I do not love and I am not interested in the least about this folly! Fools only feel this emotion because they do not know how to make a living in this world!"

Shanks smiled at Ussop's stuck-up nature. It was always amusing to him how his friend thought. "Now surely you have loved someone?" he prodded.

Ussop pointed his nose up in the air. "Ridiculous! I have never loved anyone and I never will!"

Shanks chuckled and shook his head wearily. There was no moving him. He was immovable as a rock. "You will someday." He told Ussop. "I never thought that I would love until I met Nami's mother. I fell for her at first sight. We got married and we talked about having children, di the deed, and Nami came into the world as my daughter…"

"Then she died and you're all alone." Ussop interrupted.

Shank's face fell again. "Yes." He said sadly as he thought about his deceased wife. "But Nami will have the chance that I never had. She and the boy will fall in love and grow old together, as they are both young. They will have children of their own, making me a grandfather."

"Oh good heavens, let that not be it." Ussop said snidely.

Shanks perked up again. "But I am happy just the same. Who knows, one of the children could be just like their mother."

That made Ussop cringe as he thought of all the times he had with Nami when she was younger from playing with dolls to having tea parties. He did not want to think about a child that would be exactly like her. There were enough Nami's in the world for him not to have another one.

He thought about it for a long time, so long that he didn't notice that a sudden silence had entered the room. Looking up from his thoughts, he noticed that Shanks was gone…again!

"Drat!" he muttered as he snapped his fingers.

* * *

_**So Nami has seen a strange boy in Zolo's castle. I wonder who it could be. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Will Nami fall in love as Shanks had predicted? Wait and find out in One Piece Cinderella! See you next time in Chapter 6! **_


	6. The Invitation

_** Hello again! Welcome to Chapter 6! The reason I have not written as much is because summer is on the way and school's almost out! Yay! I had actually written this chapter in April, but with prom and some other stuff, I have not had time to write much of anything. **_

_**I also might be writing a Hetalia: Axis Powers Cinderella, but that's in the near future. Again I'm just babbling. Read and Review! **_

_**Note: I do not own One Piece or its characters. They all belong to Eiichiro Oda. (Darn it!) **_

* * *

_**One Piece Cinderella**_

_**Ch 6**_

_**The Invitation**_

Cannon fire rippled through the air as two large ships came into Zolo's harbor, turning so that they were facing each other. One ship was blue and yellow with anchors on the sails and a mermaid on the bow. The other ship was blue and white with fish on the sails and a dolphin on the bow.

Steering the wheel on a platform with two sailors standing on either side of him, Sanji, who had healed from that morning incident with only a bandage on his cheek, was wearing a navy blue with gold trim captain's robe, with a blue and gold trim captain's hat with a golden plume sticking out of it. On his belt was a golden sword with a sapphire-encrusted handle.

On the other ship, standing on another platform, Helmeppo steered the wheel with his eyes wide and gritted teeth while clenching onto the helm with white-gloved hands. He was wearing a sailor boy's uniform with a white sailor hat. The only weapon he had was a white sword with a gold handle. Unfortunately, he had no crew whatsoever.

Sanji took his golden portable telescope and peered into it, gazing at that pitiful vessel that his equally pitiful younger brother was sailing. This fact made him grin as he looked on, waiting to see what Helmeppo would do. Helmeppo saw Sanji looking at him and glared at him in envy.

"Why did Father allow you to have men while I don't have any?" he whined.

Sanji smirked as he folded up the instrument and gave it to a sailor. "Because I'm the oldest, therefore I am trusted by our great father to command my men and not embarrass him in the process, as I have the skills and training to do so. You, however, would be the first to have your ship be sunk before any of your men's. Then I would be laughing as you sunk to the bottom of the sea."

"BOOM!" Sanji's ship shook from the impact of a large object that had been hurled towards his vessel. After he had gotten his footing, he looked over the side and saw that half of his cannon ports were practically shaved off. Helmeppo had fired a cannon and destroyed half of Sanji's cannons!

But this didn't faze Sanji. "Oh, want to play that game, do we?" he chuckled as he gave the signal to one of his men, who lit the fuse and fired his cannon towards the bow of Helmeppo's ship.

Helmeppo looked in shock as the weapon smashed through the bow and was coming straight towards him! Not knowing what to do, he ducked as the ball barely missed him, completely destroying the steering wheel, hitting the back deck, suddenly flying back at Helmeppo, and hitting him in the stomach, making him fly back and hit the broken mast.

Meanwhile, Sanji was watching all of this through the telescope. He gave the device back to the sailor and stepped down from his wheel so that he could get a closer look at the damage.

"As always little brother, I am one step ahead of you, and you are two steps behind."

He then heard clapping and looked up to see a shadow envelope both their boats. An enormous black and red ship with a bandanna silhouette with two swords criss-crossed on the sails came over to them. As the ship came closer and Sanji and Helmeppo could see the deck, all of the crew dropped to one knee, bowing. Under a red canopy with black tassels, Zolo was in his black and red admiral's robes, much fancier than Sanji's, sitting in his Captain's chair with a wine glass in one hand, one of his swords in the other, which a servant was sharpening while he held it, and a smirk on his face. Captain Smoker was standing beside him, as were two other soldiers.

"Well done Sanji." He said. "Pretty soon, you will become a Captain of my fleet… or maybe even a General. …Perhaps you might even replace Captain Smoker and stand by my side."

This remark made Captain Smoker glare at the eldest prince and poof some smoke in his direction. _A whiny palace brat replacing me? What an idea!_

As all of this was going on, a moan was heard as Sanji turned to see Helmeppo getting up, rubbing his head, and staggering over to the side of his ship. He had heard what Zolo said to Sanji also, as envy started to get the better of him.

"But Father! What about me" he complained. "Didn't you see what Sanji did?"

If he was hoping for some sympathy, he didn't get any as Zolo turned from Sanji to him, glaring daggers. The wimpy Prince almost jumped in fright from his father's façade.

"Come up here Helmeppo and let me tell you why you are not praised." Zolo said calmly, but sternly.

Helmeppo nodded as he gulped nervously and went across the gangplank that two soldiers had laid across from his ship to the entrance to Zolo's ship, climbed the stairs (about seventy or so), and went through the door that led out onto the deck, kneeling beside his father's chair. Suddenly a sharp pain entered his head that felt like he had been hit by a cinderblock. Reeling in pain, tears streaming down his face, he glanced up to see his father glowering at him.

"_You_ are still in trouble!" Zolo growled. "Do not talk about Sanji when he has done nothing wrong! I saw what he did to you, and I commend him for it! Only my best generals could destroy an entire ship with _one_ cannonball; the pathetic thing is that you only destroyed only half his cannons! That was a worthless move from a worthless captain!"

Helmeppo hung his head in defeat, clenching his fists, cursing silently. Zolo reached down and lifted him up by his collar, holding him so that he faced him. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Father." Helmeppo said under his breath so that it was hard to hear.

"What was that?" Zolo asked. "You can say it louder than that, can't you?"

"Yes Father!" Helmeppo said loudly.

Satisfied by his son's answer, Zolo released him, making him drop heavily on his knees. Suddenly the doors of the castle opened and a servant emerged, out of breath and holding a piece of paper.

"My Lord! My Lord! An invitation has come, Lord Zolo!"

Zolo looked at the servant and motioned for one of the guards standing on the dock, who went over to the servant and took the letter out of his hands and threw it hard over to Zolo. The swordsman lord caught it as it flew over and opened it, scanning the front of the envelope first, smirking as he saw who it was from, then took the letter in his hands and began to read it aloud:

_ "Dear Lord Zolo,_

_ You, and any children you have, are cordially invited to King Shank's castle to celebrate Princess Nami finding a suitable husband. There will be dancing and refreshments. Gates will open at 7:00 p.m. Anyone of royalty is invited, no servants or slaves._

_Thank you, _

_King Shanks, Princess Nami, and Duke Ussop" _

Zolo stopped and looked at his sons with a grin. Sanji smiled too, while Helmeppo looked puzzled. Sanji drove his ship over to Zolo's, got off and went over to his father, looking at the letter over his shoulder. After he had finished reading, he smirked at Helmeppo, who had gotten the letter when Sanji had finished reading it and threw it over his shoulder.

"The only one that's going to get the princess is me! She would never pick someone as immature and childish as you!"

This made Helmeppo narrow his eyes and glare at his older brother. "You have already gotten many women! I, however, have never even received a kiss. I think that I should get the princess."

Sanji was amused as he swaggered over to Helmeppo, who was on the other side of Zolo's chair, and flicked his nose upward, making it hit him in the face. "The reason _you _have never gotten any women, much less a girl, is because _I_ inherited Father's good looks, while you inherited_ nothing_! By his good looks and charm, Father got the servant boy's mother! _You_ are just pathetic. Not even the ugliest woman in the village would like you!"

"I think I should be given a chance…" Helmeppo started, as he was never good at comebacks, but Sanji cut him off.

"By the time you get a chance, I would have already gotten to her. You would disgrace Father and his status if you married someone of a higher class."

Zolo was on the middle of all of this, rubbing his temples and closed his eyes in anger at his two son's incompetence. Finally he stood up and glared at them.

"QUIET!" he shouted loudly and furiously.

The guards shot their hands out and grabbed Sanji and Helmeppo by their necks, squeezing them tightly. They tried to reach each other, but with a snap of the swordsman's fingers, their necks were squeezed harder so that they couldn't breathe, but for little gasps. Zolo began pacing in front of them, shaking his head in disappointment.

"I am tired of your arguing! You two will be in more trouble that this at the ball if you don't straighten up. I may even have to command he guards to embarrass you in front of the king…maybe even the _Princess_!"

The last word made the boys' eyes widen in shock and fear at the thought of their father's guards embarrassing them in front of Nami, making them gulp. Zolo snapped again, making the guards drop the two Princes. As Sanji and Helmeppo began to get up, they were suddenly pushed back down by the guard's placing one foot on their backs so that they couldn't get away.

"You both need to be dressed in your best attire._ No sloppiness!_" He looked at Helmeppo with a stern gaze. "My reputation is at stake so I expect you both to be on your best behavior. Do you two understand?"

Helmeppo and Sanji both nodded. "Yes Father, I shall…" Sanji was about to say but Zolo ignored him, motioning for the guards to get off of them. The guards removed their feet as Sanji and Helmeppo stood up, spitting dust, and faced their father. They saluted and Zolo nodded, then turned and walked towards the opening of the ship where a bridge was put across the water from the balcony of the castle.

As they watched their father walk away, Sanji and Helmeppo looked at each other again and smirked.

"I think it's time we visited our 'little step-brother' don't you think so Helmeppo?" Sanji sneered as he elbowed Helmeppo in the side.

Helmeppo looked at his brother and smiled. "Yes, and won't he be "overjoyed" to see us." He agreed as they walked across the bridge to the castle dungeons.

* * *

(In the dungeons)

Luffy was asleep in his cell in the dungeons while Captain Morgan was in a chair beside the door, snoozing as well. There were no other prisoners in the dungeons, besides the two of them and their snores echoed throughout the palace. Suddenly the door to the dungeon slammed open, awaking Captain Morgan with a jolt, making him and his chair fall over. Luffy awoke with a start too, blinking his eyes to see two figures in the doorway. Sanji and Helmeppo took a look around the prison with disgust, then turned and glanced at Luffy with smirks on their faces. Luffy however glared at them.

"Why hello Luffy, how has our step-brother been?" Sanji asked.

"Why are you two down here? Did 'Daddy' send you?" Luffy asked.

Helmeppo glared at him. "No, Father did not send us. We came by ourselves."

They were still in the clothes that they were wearing from their battle, which made Luffy snicker. The one that was most laughable was Helmeppo's. "What were you guys doing that you had to wear those ridiculous outfits?"

"For your information,_ servant_, we were training, and _my _outfit isn't ridiculous!." Sanji then looked over at Helmeppo in his sailor outfit with a smirk. "_Helmeppo's_, however, is."

_"For once I agree with you"._ Luffy thought. "What do you guys want?" he noticed that Helmeppo was standing behind Sanji, giving them both a sour look for being called stupid.

Reaching into his coat pocket, Sanji procured a piece of paper, opened it, and held it up in front of Luffy for him to see. Since he couldn't read it from that far away since he was chained, he looked at his older step-brother in puzzlement.

"What is it?" he asked.

"An invitation from the king, inviting Father and us to a ball tomorrow night. Princess Nami is going to choose a husband and I'll be first in line!" answered Sanji smugly.

"Like hell you will!." Helmeppo interrupted, making Sanji's eyes widen in shock, then glare at him for stealing his pride. "I will get to her first and never be treated like a second-class citizen in this family again! You and Father will be bowing to me!"

"How dare you talk about Father like that, runt!" Sanji snarled as he lifted his foot up. "_Learn your place_!"

"SLAM!" Helmeppo was suddenly kicked across the room, hitting the stone wall, making a large dent where he had impacted. The dust settled as Sanji grinned, letting him and Luffy see Helmeppo lying on the ground with a bloody nose and a large bruise on his head.

Luffy ignored his little step-brother, but instead went back to the first thing that he had heard about a ball and…something about a princess. "A princess? I've never seen one before." He looked up at Sanji, pleadingly. "Will I get to come?"

Sanji and Helmeppo, who had gotten up, glanced at each other with a 'you-gotta-be-joking' look. Then they looked at Luffy.

"Father will have to approve." Helmeppo said, then smirked with contempt. " But I doubt he will."

Luffy's eyes widened in a pleading gaze up at his step-brothers. "_Please_! I'll do _anything_!" he begged, "I _want_ to go!"

Sanji had heard enough of the boy's voice and sighed as he put one of his cigarettes in his mouth and lit it, puffing a little so that smoke filled the air. "Fine, we shall see. Of course you know that you have to get Father's permission first, although not right now since he is angry with Helmeppo and I. But do not be disappointed if you don't get to come." He smiled. "I'm sure that there is plenty of work Father will order done. Then you will be stuck here while we are off dancing with the beautiful princess and you are not!"

Luffy turned his gaze away from Sanji. He knew that that the blonde loved toying with him, which made his teeth grate in anger. Suddenly the two princes heard the door forcefully close as they turned their heads to see Captain Morgan glaring at both of them with his hand on the door. His expression made Helmeppo squeal in fright and leap in the air, landing in Sanji's arms, which made the boy simply drop his arms to his sides calmly, with Helmeppo landing with a "THUD!" in front of his feet.

"What are you two doing here?" he growled.

"We are here because we wanted to brag to the servant about how _we_ get to go to the ball and _he_ doesn't." Helmeppo stated proudly.

Captain Morgan smirked at the prince's haughtiness. "Oh you are, are you?" he then put his axe blade underneath the prince's chin, which made Helmeppo gulp. "And does your father know you both are down here?"

Sanji and Helmeppo exchanged worried looks. _He wouldn't tell, would he?_

Suddenly they both ran into Captain Morgan and held onto his legs, groveling for him not to tell Zolo.

"Please Captain Morgan; don't tell Father we're down here!" Sanji pleaded

"Yes, please!" Helmeppo begged, while Morgan tried to shake them off.

From his cell Luffy just watched the three of them in amusement. This was so much better than what he used to see as entertainment when his mother was alive and Zolo was never even thought of.

As the captain was trying to remove Sanji and Helmeppo, a chuckle was heard behind him as his nose picked up cigar smoke.

"Well, well, can't you even handle two children, let alone palace brats, Captain Morgan?"

The already annoyed iron-jawed man turned around to see the smirking face of Captain Smoker.

"What do you want, Smoker?" the irate man growled.

Another poof of smoke came from the senior captain's cigar. "Oh nothing, I was just seeing where Sanji and Helmeppo were. Lord Zolo wanted to know."

As they heard the last sentence, their eyes grew wide and they gaped in shock as they moved from groveling from Morgan to Smoker.

"Please, Captain Smoker! Please don't tell Father we're in here! He'll be furious!" Helmeppo cried.

"Yes! He won't let us go to the ball if he finds out we're in here! Then we won't get to see the Princess!" Sanji agreed.

Captain Smoker's eyes narrowed. "If you two don't get off of me this instant, I will be sure to let your father know _exactly _where you are and I can be sure that he _won't_ be happy…" he leaned down to look at them closer, which made Helmeppo almost faint. "…_at all_."

The two boys froze as they slowly let go of the furious captain and stood up, gazing up with eyes wider than before. Captain Smoker smirked at his persuasion tactics. Once you threaten children with getting in trouble with their parents, they stop being spoiled. Turning to Morgan, he took out his cigar and blew the smoke in his face, which caused

Morgan to cough and wheeze as the cloud enveloped his head. Finally it dissipated and Luffy, Helmeppo, and Sanji saw that he had fainted, his face was green.

Captain Smoker turned to the three shocked faces and gave them a stern look. "I don't want you two telling your father or anybody about this! Understand?"

Helmeppo and Sanji gulped and nodded with fear while their knees quivered under them.

"Y-yes Captain." they said with their teeth chattering.

There was a sudden bang of the door as it opened, making Sanji and Helmeppo turn to see Zolo with two guards by his side. Helmeppo's jaw dropped, while Sanji's eyes widened, both of them trembling and turning a ghostly pale. As he saw his master, Captain Smoker's eyes got very, very wide, but Zolo merely turned to his captain, then to the fainted Captain Morgan, with a questioning expression.

"What is going on here?" he asked slowly, his mood transforming into one of irritation. He then glared towards the two blonde-haired boys, who shrank back in fear in the corner of the dungeon, near Luffy's cell. Sanji finally spoke up with his knees knocking together in pure fright.

"W-well Father, w-we came down here to tell the s-servant about the let-letter that was sent and to brag about how we get to go to the b-ball and he doesn-nt." Sanji explained as he stared at his father with terror.

Zolo said nothing, but merely gazed back at Sanji, his lips then twisting into a smirk. "That's all?" he chuckled a bit as he closed his eyes in disbelief, "I thought you both had come down here to hide, but now I see that you're bragging to the servant's boy about the letter. Hah! What a pathetic reason!"

Helmeppo and Sanji both began to smile and laugh a bit, seeing that they were not in trouble, but they were cut off by their father snapping a warning glance at them. "But, until you have your special attire made, you are not going to the ball!"

Sanji and Helmeppo both nodded, noticing Zolo's eyes wander over to Luffy. "And I think I know who's going to make them. Isn't that right, _servant_?"

Luffy, who was trying not to listen, looked up in sort of a daze and simply shrugged. "Whatever you want me to do."

But Helmeppo and Sanji were looking at their father, horror-stricken. "Father, you cannot be serious! _His_," Sanji pointed to Luffy "_dirty fingers_ on _our delicate _and_ expensive_ fabrics and linins?"

"Can't the servants go out and buy the cloth and make our outfits, instead of _him_…?" Helmeppo asked, agreeing with Sanji.

"All of the servants are going out to buy the materials to make my outfit for the ball." Zolo interrupted, "He will do it or else my threat about not going to the ball will become real! Do I make myself clear?"

As they both replied with a nod, Sanji looked back at Luffy, glaring at him in pure hatred. Luffy, who did not want to make clothes for anyone, especially pampered palace brats like Zolo's sons, glared back, even though there was no choice in the matter. But this was worse than having to lick the dirt and grime from Zolo's swords, if he had ever done such a thing, which he would have never been allowed to do.

"It is settled." Zolo said after fifteen minutes. "The servant will make the clothing." He directed his gaze towards his sons, who were both sulking. "And if I were you both, I would not be discouraged. Unless…"

He did not have to say the last part, because as soon as he started, Sanji and Helmeppo both stood up straight and saluted. "Yes Father."

Meanwhile Captain Morgan had woken up, woozy from his 'nap', holding his good hand to his head. As he looked around, he immediately eyed his lord and tried to get into good posture. But instead of looking at him, Zolo glanced at his best captain. "At six o' clock, bring the servant up to Sanji's room so that he may make his clothing. I want him to be no later than that so that we may not be late for the ball. Understood."

Captain Smoker nodded, bowing as Zolo took one last look at Luffy and Captain Morgan, stepping up the stairs and out the door with Helmeppo and Sanji following behind him. Smoker took one last look too, puffing a cigar in Morgan's face, making him fall to the ground, but not fainting as he had done before. His expression was one of disgust as he began to step out of the dungeon.

"Do your job!" he snarled, kicking Morgan in the side as he went out the door.

* * *

_**Whew! Finally that one is done! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! So Captain Morgan and Smoker don't like each other too well, mainly because Smoker thinks that Morgan is inferior to him, which is what Zolo thinks also. And there was sibling rivalry between Sanji and Helmeppo. Hopefully the clothes-making will go well for Luffy. Thank you for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it so much! Stay tuned for the next chapter of **__One Piece Cinderella__**! **_

_**~Tatertwig45 **_


	7. Author Note

**Dear Faithful Readers, **

**No I am not giving up on this story, but I am taking a break for a little while just because it's senior year, which comes with all…this…STRESS! I have a load of papers due, plus government (which if you don't think it's hard, come to my school!) and also, as I've told you, I have to write it out on notebook paper, then transfer it, typed, to the computer. It's difficult because I haven't worked on it, written, for about a year or so. So bear with me and don't give up on me because it will be finished, I just need to get my head screwed on straight. Hopefully I will be able to finish it completely because I don't think I've ever had anything THIS successful in all my years of writing fanfiction. **

**I will finish it…I promise you! If I don't keep my oath, then do with me whatever you wish (except for mangling, because I would like a quick death if you don't mind ) **

**That's all I have to say**

** Goodbye **

** Tatertwig45**


	8. Preparations

_**Wow! I never expected to get anymore reviews or even that many hits on my story. Thank you all for your support! Especially you, **__Butterfree, Yasaonna-Chan, Awsme Girl, Dark Leg Sanji, Hascuko, StarKiss666, Anime Lover 3593, Dsigz, Future X13, Akrim, dbzgtfan2004, and Rizzz__**! You guys are awesome but I want to give a shout out to **__Butterfree,__Yasaonna-Chan,__** and **__Awsme Girl__** for taking the time to review on this. Thanks guys! (As if anyone ever reads this stuff anyway) I'm so sorry that it's taking so long to update but school, homework, the norm! I haven't totally abandoned it! D:**_

_**Now back to talking about the story: this is the moment you have all been waiting for…The Ball! And for the two lovers to finally meet. I am going to do it in two parts though since it's going to be so long. Sadly I couldn't find anyone to be the fairy godmother so I'm just going to leave them out and let Luffy find his own way to go to the ball without being noticed by Sanji, Helmeppo, Captain Smoker, or worse, Zolo. I'm sorry to those who were expecting one. **_

_**Without further ado…let's get on with it!**_

_**Note: I do not own One Piece or its characters. They all belong to Eiichiro Oda. (Darn it!) **_

* * *

_**One Piece Cinderella**_

_**Ch 7**_

Night came, and around both castles excitement and preparation was stirring. Nami and Shanks were getting the entire castle ready for the ball, decorating it from top to bottom with lights, ribbons, lanterns, even the very clothes the servants were wearing.

Meanwhile, in Zolo's castle, in his room, Sanji was admiring his own reflection in a diamond mirror while Luffy, grudgingly, was fitting and measuring cloth to make his outfit. It had taken at least two hours, mostly because Sanji had commanded for him to be brought earlier than need be.

The air was filled with smoke from the older prince's cigarette, making hard for Luffy to breath, and for two guards that were there making sure the servant didn't try anything, as they had to leave the room several times. But of course Sanji didn't mind, as his lungs were already black enough for it not to really affect him.

"It's like he wants the whole castle to get lung cancer." Luffy said under his breath. But apparently he hadn't said it soft enough as Sanji turned his head, looking at the boy with a glare.

"Did Father say you could talk while making my clothes?" he snapped, poofing a cloud of smoke in Luffy's direction, making the boy cough and wave his hand in the air.

"Would you quit smoking? It's a bad habit you know." Luffy asked, annoyed. "And no, he didn't. What do I care about what Zolo thinks?"

This made Sanji smirk, "Oh you would be surprised at what you would be allowed to do if you were on his good side…for once."

Luffy ignored him and went back to work. After about fifteen minutes, Sanji started to fidget with impatience. "Would you hurry up? I'm tired of standing here while your nasty hands are all over me!"

With measuring tape in hand, wrapping it around Sanji's waist, Luffy furrowed his brow in concentration with a pencil dangling from his mouth. "Quit whining! It was only about an hour ago that I learned how to do this, amazingly. So you're going to have to be patient. I'm not an expert."

"Unfortunately." The blonde coughed under his breath but Luffy didn't take notice of it. Sanji stood straight once again long enough to be dressed.

More than an hour passed by before Luffy managed to measure the last yard of fabric and cut the last string of lace and silk, finally sliding into a heap of exhaustion, then standing up, wiping the sweat off his brow, and started putting the instruments away. All in all, he felt very satisfied with his work, even though he had just learned how to do it and didn't have a lot of time to prepare. He just hoped that Sanji would be happy about it, even though he truly didn't care about the Prince's approval one way or the other.

"I'm done." Luffy said breathlessly.

He watched as Sanji lifted an eyebrow, turning around, stepping off the platform into his black, gold-tipped boots, gazing vainly at himself in the mirror. He was wearing a black dress shirt, trimmed with gold, the cuffs being gold also, and black pants with gold buttons with ornate trim, also gold, adorning the seams. It was an outfit only a prince could wear and Luffy himself couldn't even believe that he made it since he had never done it before.

Sanji turned to the sides and the back while Luffy was putting on the final touches, looking at himself with satisfaction that the worthless servant had actually gotten something done right. Of course he wouldn't give Luffy the pleasure of knowing that he was happy with it, no need to get his hopes up any higher than they already were. The final piece was a black and gold captain's hat with a golden plume that was set on Sanji's head by Luffy using his rubber powers, since he was allowed to on this one occasion.

The rubber boy dusted off his hands with a sigh, "There. Are you happy?" he asked with irritation at his step-brother's snobbishness.

Sanji closed his eyes, opening one in a snooty air as he took a cigarette and lit it. "I suppose." he said while he glanced at Luffy, a holier-than-thou air about him.

Luffy chose to ignore him again and started cleaning up while Sanji watched him, making sure there was nothing left. The prince smiled, a little bit of smoke poofing from his mouth as he slipped on his black velvet gloves.

"The Princess will be amazed at how stunning I am and will not be able to resist. But of course, what women would?"

"A lot." Luffy said under his breath. Sanji flickered his eyes towards him in a steely glare, catching what the servant said.

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you." He growled, "Father commanded you to make my clothing, even though I told him that I didn't want you to." He then glanced side to side at what he was wearing. "Although, you did do a reasonable job. At least I won't look horrible when I and the princess meet, and, under Father's guidance, fall in love. Of course I will have to beat everyone there and win her heart. Hah! No one stands a chance because they will not be as good looking as me…. Oh but what am I telling all this for? Your own mother died and did not tell you about love or marriage, so what could a dirty, repulsive servant like you understand?"

Luffy was about to interject and tell Sanji off, but froze, looking down-cast. _He's right. What do I know about love or marriage? Mom died before she ever got a chance to tell me anything about that, most of all about girls…_

He never got to finish his thought as he heard the door to Sanji's room open, revealing a servant who bowed meekly. Zolo had probably sent him from the way he was acting, and Luffy knew that the other house servants watched their steps when around their lord and never dared to act as brashly as the rubber boy, lest they wanted to incur their master's wrath. In fact, Luffy was the only one to get into trouble on a daily basis, much to Zolo and Morgan's displeasures, which the other servants were grateful of. At least they were out from under the irritable swordsman's gaze, unlike the former prince.

Sanji turned to stare at the messenger, locking his usually lazy eyes on him in a firm 'what-do-you-want-trash.'expression, almost, seemingly, like a glare. The servant's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull at the look in fright, which made Luffy almost feel sorry for the poor man.

Almost.

"My Prince, if you are prepared, your father is expecting you downstairs in the parlor." Though he has said it without stuttering, like many of the other servants would have, he looked like he was about to wet himself.

Sanji merely nodded. Without saying a word, he straightened his hat, turned around, and was about to follow the man to the parlor, but was stopped by seeing Luffy run past him and block the door, a frantic look in his eyes.

"Wait!" Luffy shouted, "Aren't I going to the ball."

Shocked by this statement, the servant was about to call the guards to move Luffy out of the way, but not before Sanji held up a hand, halting him from doing so. His expression showed that he was taken aback by what the rubber boy said, but then a smirk formed on his features as he snickered a little in astonishment.

"What is this nonsense about going to the ball with us? Father gave you your freedom from the dungeons, isn't that enough?" Straightening up, he put on a serious facade, "Or do you want to go to the ball, meet the Princess, and actually feel like you're worth something?"

But if the older boy thought that what he said was going to deter Luffy from ever coming with them to the ball, he was seriously mistaken. Luffy only pleaded silently, gazing up at Sanji with begging eyes, nodding his head. Throwing up his hands, Sanji sighed wearily. This boy is very persistent!

"Fine, I'll go and talk to Father about this."

Meanwhile, the guard, who still was standing in front of the door, began to fidget with impatience. "My Prince, your father needs you in the parlor immediately. Prince Helmeppo is already set to go and Lord Zolo will be very displeased if you, his oldest son and his heir, are late."

Sanji smirked as he glanced at the guard _'Hah! Helmeppo is down there before me? What a joke! I always get down there before him whenever we go somewhere and he ends up looking like a fool because he is the one that makes us late!'_

But upon making out the words that the man had said, his eyes suddenly widened, almost popping out of his head. "_What_? Helmeppo is already down there? Before me?"

Sanji turned to the side, facing away from the guard, so angry that he was wringing his hands together, while Luffy and the guard stared at the prince with uncertainty. "That little wretch, trying to get on Father's good side!" Then, realizing that Helmeppo could never get on Zolo's good side, if he had one, he sighed and took another smoke. "Oh well, Father is a hard man to please. The only way that Helmeppo could ever hope to make him happy, or at least give him a little shred of pride, is if he somehow wooed the Princess and, by stroke of pure luck, marry her. Hah! That is never going to happen because the only one who has the largest chance of succeeding in that particular feat is _moi_!"

Luffy didn't say anything, but rolled his eyes and snorted at the ridiculous idea. Sanji could never last in a long-term relationship since all of them usually lasted a week or two.

The guard, who didn't want to get into trouble with his master for bringing the Prince down late, coughed slightly to get their attention. "So shall we be going?" he asked as he held the door open, tapping his foot impatiently.

Sighing, Sanji put his hat back on, resting it firmly on his head as he closed his eyes and took another smoke. Pushing his blue and gold cloak into Luffy's hands, almost making the boy lose his balance, he walked towards the door, which the guard opened to let him pass through. With Luffy, who was still holding the heavy cloak, following him, the blonde-haired prince went downstairs to the parlor, seeing his father and Helmeppo were already ready to go. Sitting in his black and red throne-like chair, Zolo looked particularly impatient and scowled as his son passed through, his fingers tapping on the armrest.

He was dressed in a black dress shirt with red trim; the cuffs were red, also, with black swirls. His pants were black with red buttons and seams. To top it all off was a black and red captain's hat with a red plume sticking out of it that was resting on a red cushion beside his chair, Zolo's green hair covered up by his black bandanna.

As his son and Luffy reached him, the guards that stood on both sides of Zolo's chair bowed, until their master gave them the signal to stop by holding up his hand, that was before resting on his swords in his belt. A smile crossed his face, gazing at Sanji proudly at how handsome he looked. Getting up and walking over to him, Zolo placed both hands on his son's shoulders proudly, still smiling as he laughed a little in surprise at what he was seeing.

"It seems the servant did a much better job than what I was expecting." He said with a glance over at Luffy, who stared defiantly at him. "You look every inch the Prince that I expect you to be at the ball tonight." Zolo then dropped his head down to Sanji's ear, lowly whispering "In fact, I can guarantee that you will win the Princess's heart tonight and make me the proudest father anyone could ever ask for."

This statement about the princess banished all other statements, hurtful or not, that Sanji had received via Zolo, from his mind, making the prince beam in pride. Turning to the side, he saw Helmeppo, who was far away from them, staring off into the distance obviously in a very sour mood.

His little brother's expression made Sanji smirk. _Good, he hadn't heard what their father said about the princess! _

Meanwhile, Luffy observed the scene, deciding that now would be a better time than any to ask before they left. After fifteen minutes, as Helmeppo and Sanji were arguing in the corner while Zolo was taking a sip from his wine glass, glowering at his two sons in annoyance, the clock struck 7:45. This made all of the occupants of the room gaze up, followed by Zolo standing. Two servants quickly went over to him, trying not to make their master angry, and helped him put his red and black Captains robe on since he had had it off when Sanji had come down.

As Zolo settled comfortably into the coat, he felt a presence at his feet, looking down to see that Luffy was kneeling before him, head bowed as he was holding his straw hat in his hand, an action that made the swordsman cock an eyebrow in surprise. Usually the boy wouldn't even dare show the slightest shred of respect towards him, not that he could be blamed. He wouldn't either if he was him after what he had done to Luffy's life. But this level of respect was too uncommon, causing Zolo to pale slightly and begin to fidget uncomfortably.

"Master," Luffy began, not daring to raise his head lest it'd damage his one and only chance of ever going to the ball. "I humbly ask, since I have not given any trouble to you or your sons all afternoon while I was working on their outfits, that you would consider my request of accompanying you to the ball as a personal servant, or –gulp- a third son...if it would please your lordship."

Gaping as they widened their eyes, Sanji's and Helmeppo's jaws nearly dropped to the floor. Both stared at Luffy in complete and utter shock and disbelief. _Why would he ask that? _

Zolo, however, wasn't so surprised and took his words in stride, pondering on what he had just heard, but not very closely. He finally cleared his throat while smirking to his sons, then glanced down at the boy. Luffy still had his head bowed.

"Fine." He said, causing Luffy to look up, _his_ eyebrows now raised. "You may accompany us since you have no reason not to. But…" Zolo let the word hang in the air for a moment while Luffy waited in bated breath. After while he continued, smiling at the power this one sentence held. "You must also dress nicely for the occasion, as I will not be embarrassed because of one servant's attire. You may get the outfit from Sanji's room."

Luffy's whole face lit up as soon as the last word left Zolo's mouth and he quickly rushed upstairs as fast as he could, not daring to waste another minute. The staircase became a complete blur under his feet as the feeling of weightlessness overtook him.

Back downstairs Zolo watched, grinning in delight. Sanji and Helmeppo, however, glanced nervously from their father to the stairs that Luffy just zoomed up and back again. Whenever their father had that expression, there was always something bad that was going to happen. They inched closer to Zolo, bewildered, as he turned to stare at them.

"Um, Father?" Sanji asked, gulping. "Why is the servant coming with us? You hate him and he would be a great embarrassment. Someone might even steal the princess from us."

"Yes Father," Helmeppo cut in, "The letter said no servants or slaves allowed."

This amused Zolo, "Whoever said that he was going to join us?"

"B-bu-but you said….?" The two boys stammered, more puzzled than ever.

_Idiots!_ Their father pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. _How stupid could these two be? _

"Did you two really think that I would keep my word to a mere servant? One that constantly annoys me to no end?" he asked, "Did you? Would I ever really let him join us and risk my reputation for having the worst servant at the ball?"

Helmeppo was about to wet himself in pure terror, his knees knocking together as he almost toppled over. "W-well we-we thought…!"

He was just about to finish his sentence when a loud crash resounded from upstairs, echoing across the walls of the parlor. All three of them turned their heads; the noise sounded like someone had been tackled to the floor followed by a few more grunts and yells, before it went eerily quiet. Five minutes later, six guards made their way downstairs and outside to stand on either side of the waiting carriage, opening the passenger door.

Seeing as it finally time to leave, which his sons were grateful for, Zolo made his way to the door after setting his Captains hat on securely, gesturing for the two boys to follow suit. All three of them climbed into the black and red carriage, complete with black horses, and drove away from the castle onto the ball.

* * *

(Meanwhile, up in Sanji' room)

Luffy narrowed his eyes, his mouth covered by a gag, as he tried to struggle out of the shackles attached to the wall beside Sanji's bed, binding his wrists and ankles together in a tight and painful hold. As soon as he had reached the top of the stairs and walked down the hallway, opening the door to the room, six or seven guards, he couldn't remember how many, had ambushed him. They pushed him to the floor, bound his wrists and ankles together, and chained him to the wall, while one soldier stuffed a gag into his mouth before tying another piece of cloth around his head to keep it secure, but making it very difficult to breath, let alone talk.

"Fucking bastard!" Luffy muttered about Zolo, "I knew him letting me go to the ball was too good to be true!"

After calming down somewhat, he decided to take a look around the room, searching for anything that might get him out of his predicament. Finally, not before seeing a lint wad, some dust, a few clothes scattered here and there that he knew he would have to take for the other servants to wash, and…..women's underwear (?), (Luffy raised an eye at this one) he spied a metal locking pin.

But it was too far away for him to reach!

Despair started to well up inside him. _At this rate I'll never get to go to the ball, dance with the Princess, or maybe win her heart!_ He thought. _She'll probably be dancing with Sanji or any other guy, not me!_

But as much as he would have liked to sit there, wallowing in self-pity, he knew he had to do something to get out of these chains. But what?

Oh that's right, the pin!

How could Luffy be stupid enough to forget about the pin!

He knew it wasn't going to be an easy feat, but how else was he going to get to the ball and see a princess for once in his life?

How was Luffy going to get out there and live, even if it was just for one night?

Was he just going to sit around and let Sanji, Helmeppo, and Zolo have all the fun?

No!

He deserved it!

It was his time to throw off the clothes of servitude and gout into the world, no matter what anyone thought! No matter the consequences!

And Luffy was sure that there would be huge consequences if he was caught.

Very Huge.

With that goal firm in his mind, he decided to use his arms and hands to reach the pin by stretching them across the room. Gritting his teeth, sweat beading gown his forehead, Luffy strained as best he could, stretching his arm as far as it could go, trying to reach the object that would set him free. Sadly, however, it did not work and only earned the boy a limp arm.

After five unsuccessful tries, Luffy, worn out and about to give up, felt an itch on his head and reached up to scratch it, his fingers feeling his straw hat.

That's it!

Luffy could have slapped himself in disbelief. His old friend! His straw hat that was given to him by his father in his will and most prized possession! How did he not think of something so simple before?

Reaching up to take his hat off, he held the brim and used all the power he could muster to stretch his arm and get the pin. Luffy bit his lip as his eyes bulged from the strain. The veins in his arms were pulled so tight that they threatened to rupture as the hat got closer and closer to the pin

_Closer….!_

_Closer…!_

_Almost there…!_

After what had seemed like forever, he finally reached the pin, put the hat over it, and dragged it across the floor with the pin underneath it. When it finally got to him, Luffy picked it up, slipped it through the hole in the middle, turned it until he heard it _click_, and unlocked himself from the shackles, untying the gag from around his mouth.

He breathed in and out to get some air, slowly refilling his lungs, rubbed his arms and ankles where the metal had chaffed his skin, and set his hat back on his head.

"Now that_ that's_ over," Luffy thought, standing up, almost losing his footing, and brushed himself off. "On to the next order of business….What am I going to wear?"

Glancing towards the closet, he got an idea and walked over to it, opening the doors. He found the perfect outfit almost instantaneously, putting it on. The last thing he put on was an emerald ring with a pearl band that was given to him by his mother before she died. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he decided to wear it in honor of her memory. He missed her so much.

After Luffy dried his eyes and calmed down, the next order of business was to choose a hat, lest he be recognized at the ball by his step-brothers, or worse Zolo or Smoker. He couldn't even bear to think of how much trouble he would be in if he was caught, and knew that Zolo and Sanji would look closely at him. Helmeppo wasn't that observant anyway, so Luffy didn't worry about being recognized by him.

Standing in front of the mirror, he smiled at how he looked, checking for any flaws that might make him recognizable. Luckily there were none. He then made his way out, but not before turning out the light. Before he went out, however, the sound of marching feet made his blood run cold. Quickly, Luffy hid behind the door, peeking around in time to see six soldiers march by, obviously guarding the door.

_That was a close one! _

As soon as the coast was clear, he slowed down, inching around the wall of the hallway, out of sight. He glanced back and, not seeing anyone around, walked as fast as he possibly could down the stairs, weaving in and out of servants and, unfortunately for them, caused some accidents here and there, finally reaching the door leading outside.

After Luffy opened it and sighed in relief, hoping that one of the many servants that saw him didn't snitch to a guard, he made his way to the nearby stables, catching the attention of the many carriage horses, who snorted and pawed the ground in anxiety at the new visitor with the tasty-looking hat

Luffy made his way around the barn until a black and white thoroughbred caught his eye. One of Zolo's horses no doubt because it looked healthier than some of its other comrades.

Perfect for making the fast trip to the castle!

After making sure that none of the other guards or the stable boys were around, which was odd as the stable was completely devoid of people, he went to the tack room and picked out a bridle and a saddle. Putting the instruments on the animal was surprisingly easy, as the animal was calmly compliant, Luffy climbed on her (yes it's a girl) back. Then he opened the door, and had her gallop out of the barn. Once he got past the past the sleeping guards who were supposed to be watching the main gates, Luffy pumped his fist in the air, whilst holding onto the reins with the other hand in victory.

He made it!

Now, as Luffy and his trusty steed ran off into the night, he could only think about what would be waiting for him at the glamorous ball that was being held on the shining castle on the hill, and the night that could perhaps change his life forever.

* * *

_**Yay! The chapter is finally, finally, finally done! Thank you all for all your patience over these last few months that I have not updated. It truly means a lot to me. Thank you for understanding the tribulations that I have had to go through in this hectic school year…and I do mean **__hectic__**! You have no idea how much it means to me to have such loyal readers to this story that I thought was only going to get maybe 15 reviews at the most, but it's gotten into the twenties in such a short time, not even a year! You guys are what help me push through not giving up on this and I am so excited to be writing the next chapter! –drum roll- THE BALL! **_

_**I hope you all are as excited as I am about this next chapter! So keep hanging in there with me and I promise you that this next chapter won't take as long as the last one...hopefully! **_

_**See you soon! –Tatertwig45**_


	9. The Ball

_**Hello again! 4,000+ hits and 30+ reviews on this little old story! It makes me proud that so many people like it when I was only expecting maybe 10 reviews on the whole thing and maybe 100 hits. I have never, in my whole experience of submitting fanfiction on , have ever received so much support. I know I say all this in every introduction or ending comment, so I'll stop for the time being. I'm sorry! **_

_**Anyway, so Luffy is headed on his quest for his princess that he has never seen…on his horse…in the dark forest…towards Shanks' castle…in disguise…Okay I'll stop before you guys deem me a weirdo. This is the moment that you all have been waiting for…actually it was supposed to be there LAST chapter, but since I decided to split that chapter it's going to be in this chapter. Also I am really bad at writing love scenes, so bear with me **_

_**Note: I do not own One Piece or its characters. They all belong to Eiichiro Oda. (Darn it!)**_

* * *

_**One Piece Cinderella**_

_**Ch 8**_

Resting one arm on her chair beside her father and Ussop, Nami sighed wearily in impatience. Prince after prince after prince had been presented to her, some with their servants bringing in rings, jewelry, silks, dresses, shoes, even animals. One prince even brought in a statue of her carved from marble, and another from diamond. They serenaded her with songs, music, dancing, even sweet words and poems. Nami simply took in all these things, which being a princess didn't help much, and forced a smile of appreciation to each suitor that came her way, even to some that looked like they should be peasants.

Her hand was grasped and squeezed gently, making her look up to see Shanks smiling at her in encouragement. As the last prince left with an expression of total rejection, the king leaned over next to his daughter's ear and whispered. "Chin up my girl. You'll find that perfect man before the night is through, I'm positive. For now enjoy the ball, have some fun."

This made Nami smile as she kissed her father on the cheek. As she was about to stand to go join the party, thinking that that was the last of the princes, the doors to the ballroom were opened as a red and black carriage pulled up. A man dressed in a red and black outfit with three swords hanging from his belt, and two teenage boys (Nami guessed they were his sons), dressed almost the same way except one was dressed in blue and yellow and the other was dressed in blue and white, exited the carriage and made their way down the long red and white carpet towards Nami and Shanks.

It felt as though an eerie chill had entered the room, making Nami shiver a little as the three men stood before them. All eyes in the silent room were on them, looks of disgust on some people's faces, some with fearful expressions. The new arrivals stood for a moment before the man stepped forward, taking his hat from his head revealing a black bandanna, and bowed to Shanks.

"Your majesty." He said in a very eloquent voice, one that shocked Nami, "May I introduce my sons, whom I hope you daughter will find favorable, Sanji and Helmeppo."

The tall one wearing the blue and gold outfit stepped forward and bowed, taking out his cigarette as he did so. Nami guessed this one was Sanji. Then the other boy, who must have been Helmeppo, stepped forward and did the same thing, almost falling on his face. When the boys went back over to their father, Shanks stood up, stepping down the three red carpeted steps that led from the seats to the ballroom floor, and walked up to the man, smiling.

"Welcome, Lord Zolo." He said in the most polite way possible, "Thank you for attending and I do hope you enjoy yourself. But about your sons, who are very handsome by the way, we will see whom she will find favorable because it is her decision, not mine, to make."

They both stared at each other, one of them giving the other one smiles but inside making sure that the other one wasn't up to something. They were also trying to keep their hatred for one another a secret lest it embarrass them both.

"My lord," Shanks said, breaking the silence. "Why don't we let us and our children enjoy the party. Have some wine and eat to your heart's content." He then turned to the other guests, who were observing what just took place between their king and a common lord in silent shock. "Let the festivities commence!"

The music from the orchestra started playing again as the guests resumed talking amongst themselves or dancing as if the encounter between Shanks and Zolo never happened. Nami, however, noticed that her father and Zolo had gone up to a balcony above the floor where they could watch the dancers and talk in private.

"I did not expect you to attend the ball, Zolo." Shanks began as he and the swordsman sat down, but not before two servants removed Zolo's coat and hat. As they were removing his captain's hat, one of the servants reached to untie the swordsman's bandanna. He had almost touched the ties when he suddenly felt a sword point under his chin, looking down to see Zolo glowering at him. The servant's eyes widened and he backed away from the moody swordsman, trembling.

"Anyway…" Shanks said after he coughed to get the conversation moving after the strange scenario that just took place. "I see that you received my daughter's letter and answered it by coming. I have never met your sons but I can see that they are very much like their father. Especially the one called Sanji, is it?"

Zolo nodded as they both watched Sanji abandon Helmeppo to search through the crowd for Nami, who had stepped off her chair to go and mingle with the guests. "Yes." He answered, smirking. "He is like me, in some ways. We have the same determination to control the things that we have yet to posses and will stop at nothing to have them." He chuckled as he sipped some wine from the crystal glass on the table.

Shanks was starting to get uncomfortable with the direction their talk was going. He shifted in his seat as he heard his enemy talk about his son, although he couldn't tell if Zolo had talked about Helmeppo or not, as he hadn't seemed to go any further.

"I see. But you will just have to wait and see who Nami chooses to be her husband." The king said with a smile. "So, why come to a ball a mere servant is hosting? Is it because of my daughter…or something more."

Leaning back to glance at the king, Zolo returned the same smile, except it wasn't cheerful. "If it was something more, I wouldn't be telling you, now would I?"

Before the king could answer, the green-haired man sighed, "I never received your payment. Were you planning on embarrassing yourself in front of your guests and risking them finding out what power you don't truly possess? The power that should belong to a lord who you are indebted to?"

This time it was Shanks' turn to smile, gesturing a servant over who had two other servants with him, all three of them holding heavy bags which they were struggling to drag over to their master and Zolo. "Here it is, 'my lord'. All of it is accounted for, no more, no less."

Zolo stroked his chin, surprised that the king had the exact payment there. What surprised him even more was that he was so confident about knowing that he had it.

'_Well',_ he thought with a smirk, '_he won't be confident for long.' _

Just then, the doors to the ballroom abruptly opened, making the whole room fall silent in awe and wonder at the new visitor. Even Nami turned from what she was doing to curiously glance at the strange guest.

It was a teenage boy who came in amidst the now slack jawed occupants, looking confused at their expressions as he walked across the room, Even the announcer was silent with his hand over his mouth and glazed eyes. The boy took an once-over at the announcer, then at what he himself was wearing: a red captain's robe with a red captain's hat that had a white feather plume sticking out from it. Underneath, a white shirt and black pants complimented the outfit along with knee-high black boots.

Nami stared at him for what seemed like hours _Who is this boy?_

Suddenly the two strangers locked eyes, neither turning away but neither going closer either. In their minds, there was no one else in the room but them.

_Who is this girl?_ Luffy thought in awe. _She's beautiful._ Shock and realization came over his face as he glanced at her again after they turned away from each other, faces red in embarrassment. _She can't be the princess…can she?_

He was about to take another look at her when the sound of clapping was heard. Luffy glanced at who he perceived to be the king up on a balcony with none other than his step-father. Hastily, he took off his enormous hat and bowed, all the while shielding his face from view so that Zolo would not be able to recognize him. Shanks came down the stairs, curious as to whom this boy was that his daughter had taken a liking to.

"Welcome young man!" he said happily, coming over to Luffy, patting him on the back so hard that he almost fell over. "I am honored that you chose to come to my daughter's ball and I hope that you enjoy yourself."

He stepped to the side and made a sweeping gesture over to his left. "Allow me to introduce my daughter, Princess Nami."

Luffy's eyes widened in disbelief as he saw the girl who took Shank's outstretched arm in hers.

She _is _the princess!

Nami was as equally surprised, but she didn't let it show that the boy looked familiar to her. Instead she jabbed a finger into his chest so hard he almost lost his balance again, getting up into his face and intensely burned her green eyes into his in a 'don't-mess-with-me' look.

"Let's get one thing straight. If you think fancy gifts, statues, or jewelry are the only things that are going to impress me, then you have the wrong girl." Nami huffed as she narrowed her eyes in a penetrating gaze.

_Wow, she's not what I was expecting at all_ Luffy thought, his face turning pale at her non-girly-girl attitude that would bring any man to shame. Deciding that he needed to thaw her out, he started backing away with his hands up in surprise and laughed a little. "I assure you, Princess, I'm not like that."

Apparently, this trick worked. Glancing to see what Nami's reaction would be, he found her staring at him in confusion with her mouth slightly open and her eyes widened, blinking several times. "Uhm, you're not? So you don't expect me to fall head over heels in love with you because of how much money you have or your talents like all the others have?"

"All I ask is that we share a dance together." Luffy said as he bowed and held out a hand for her. "You would like that, wouldn't you Princess?"

Nami was taken aback at how eloquent this boy was. Before she made her decision, she turned back to look up at her father, who was back up in the balcony with Zolo. Shanks noticed her and gave her a smile back, encouraging her to go for it. Besides, the young man seemed too unlike those other rejected men to not be the eventual choice for his daughter. In fact he was so sure of it, he could hardly contain his excitement when he saw Nami take Luffy's hand and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

"Ussopp! Ussopp! Look!" he practically yelled as he jumped up and down in glee at what just took place. Ussopp, who was sleeping, tending to get bored at parties such as this one, with his monocle almost dropping off his long nose, jolted awake, catching the glass eyepiece as it slipped through his fingers several times.

"What is it your majesty?" he sighed, trying to straighten it back on his nose. Shanks could get too overly excited at trivial things. Instead, of telling him, the king took the monocle and pointed it directly at where Nami and Luffy were dancing. The surprised duke's eyebrowsrose, watching the two figures on the floor slowly swaying back and forth to the music. Ussopp turned back to Shanks, who looked like he was going to pass out, and grinned at his master.

"I must say your majesty, the princess truly does look happy with this one. I believe that we may have found her a potential husband."

"My little Nami is growing up." Shanks replied, a tear forming which he wiped off quickly. As he sniffed, he tried to regain his composure, but ended up falling into Ussopp's arms a sobbing wreck. The duke merely patted the king's back sympathetically, but really wanting his friend to straighten up for his guests, who thankfully hadn't seen their ruler.

"My liege, please show a little bit more composure for your guests." Ussopp said impatiently, pushing the king off of him as gently as he could. "Your daughter especially. She wouldn't want to see her father like this on her big night. Not when she has found her future husband, your future son-in-law. Although that will all have to be determined on how much she likes him, which clearly she does as she turned down the other suitors except for him."

Lifting his tear-stained face from his servant's shoulder, Shanks realized Ussopp was right about Nami turning down the other boys who asked her hand in marriage. He sat down in his chair, sighing deeply, and leaned his head back, a smile on his face. "You're right. I think this is the first time I ever saw her truly happy, not since her mother died." He looked up at Ussopp standing beside him. "You know, I think these two were meant to be together, as if they were ordained or something. Don't you think so?"

The duke merely smiled, patting his friend's back, "Your majesty, I don't doubt it."

* * *

This night was all but a dream to Luffy, one that he couldn't wake up from, but one that he wished he would never awake. He never thought that he, a mere servant boy, would be dancing with royalty. A_ princess_ to be exact!

All of the other guests watched as he and Nami twirled around the floor, Luffy swearing he saw jealous expressions on all of the invited boys' faces. But he never gave them any mind. The only person who he was currently focused on was the princess. In fact, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her even when they weren't dancing.

Nami was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her orange hair was curled and pulled back into an elegant bun, pinned up with a white diamond comb, which also matched her long, white, elegant sleeveless, mermaid-style dress with a sweetheart neckline. White, arm-length, silk gloves covered her hands, a white shawl was draped across her arms wrapped around her back, and around her neck was a pearl necklace with a huge diamond hanging in the center. The outfit was topped off by white silk-strapped heels that, to Luffy's surprise, she could dance pretty well in.

All in all she was stunning.

They didn't speak much while dancing. Luffy was trying to focus on exactly _how_ to dance since he had never been to a ball before. Luckily he had Nami to help him, and was soon mastering it, even to go as far as dipping her. As he dipped her, almost falling but he caught his balance, the feeling he got was almost surreal, like floating on air. He stared into Nami's beautiful green eyes and smiled at her as she was set back on her feet, she in turn smiling back.

"You are a wonderful dancer…oh I'm sorry, I can't seem to remember your name." she giggled at the thought.

Luffy froze. That's right! He didn't even give her his name because Zolo was up on the balcony, so of course he couldn't say anything. Worse, if he gave her his name and she then went and talked about him to her father and Zolo, Zolo would put two and two together, figuring out that Luffy came to the ball in disguise. He couldn't let that happen!

"My name is….uhhmm…let's see, what is my name?" he thought for a moment while Nami stared at him, confused at why he had to think up his name instead of knowing it right off the bat like a normal person.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed after five minutes, startling Nami a bit, "My name is Lawrence!"

This made Nami laugh, causing Luffy to wonder what was so funny.

"Oh nothing." she said as she stopped laughing when she noticed him looking at her oddly. "It's just that I've never met anyone named Lawrence before, or who has ever _forgotten _that their name was Lawrence."

As Nami tried to keep herself under control, she felt Luffy, or "Lawrence", touch her face tenderly, drawing her chin towards him so that she looked him in the eye, causing her laughter to cease immediately. "Well I think 'Nami's' a pretty name. It suits you." He said softly, both of them drawn into one another so that it was hard to glance away.

This made the princess blush as she looked at the ground sheepishly. Luffy noticed and he started to panic, thinking that he may have said or done something wrong. This was his first time with a girl after all and he started to wish that he was more like Sanji. He would know how to handle this type of situation. In fact his older step-brother would know how to handle anything having to do with women. Luffy couldn't exactly say the same for Helmeppo though.

"I wish I could say the same thing." Nami said, her face dropping "But I want a more elegant name, like Sukashi, Motoko, or something beautiful. They're better than 'Nami'."

This time it was Luffy's turn to laugh. "Why would you change it? It's the most beautiful name in the world. Like I said, it suits you."

This made Nami's face turn beet red. Sure she had been called beautiful by pompous, stuck-up, arrogant jerks just so they could have a chance to marry her and inherit her father's kingdom, which would never happen if she had anything to say about it. But when said by this boy who was dancing with her right now, he made it seem like he meant it from his heart and not to be a shallow statement. In fact, 'Lawrence' seemed to not be like any of the other boys. He was kinder, gentler, and more open to what she had to say, not self-centered and only caring when it counted.

As soon as they stopped dancing, Nami flicked a strand of hair behind one ear, smiling. "I want to show you something, if that's alright with you."

Luffy nodded, suddenly feeling the princess grab his hand, leading him out a door that went out onto a balcony overlooking a crystal clear lake. Candles floating on lily pads illuminated the surface of the water as stars twinkled in the night sky. Even the moon was beautiful, making Luffy gasp in awe as he and Nami took a seat on some steps that lead down to the lake. He had never seen a sight like that while in Zolo's castle, of course he wouldn't have been allowed to anyway, often getting in enough trouble so that he was in the dungeons every day at least.

"Wow!" he gasped, "I've never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life!"

Nami placed a hand on her chin, puzzled about how a prince like him would be amazed by a sight such as a lake at night. Most princes wouldn't think twice about it, much less think it was beautiful or anything like that. They would complain about how bored they were. Oddly enough, "Lawrence" was curious, or should we say,_ fascinated_ by everything around him at this moment, like a child in a new place, which she thought was strange. Wouldn't he shrug it off as something he had seen before in his castle?

"I've never met a person like you before. You're….different from the others, but a good kind. You don't seem like the type that is used to the whole royalty thing like I am, even though you're a prince." Nami turned to gaze at Luffy, who had turned to listen, his demeanor changing from one of wonder to one of concentration at what she was saying.

"Yeah I know." He replied, leaning back on the palms of his hands as he looked up at the stars, thinking about what would be good to answer her with. "I've always sorta been like that, ever since I can remember. Guesse I've never been good about putting up a front or lying about who I was."

Nodding, Nami decided to ask Luffy about his personal life, to try and get to know him a little better. "So, do you have a mother or father?"

_Wow, that was a little random,_ Luffy thought, a surprised expression coming over his face as he stared at Nami.

God she looked gorgeous in the moonlight!

"Uhhmm…" He glanced down at the ground, trying to come up with a good answer for her. "I do, but…" Darn it! Why couldn't he come up with anything?

"It's okay if you don't have a good relationship with them, although I probably wouldn't understand it since my father and I have one. A good relationship I mean" Nami replied, putting a hand on Luffy's shoulder. "Although, he's been hiding something from me recently. Something about this 'Zolo' person and some sort of treaty."

_Zolo?_ Luffy's heart stopped as he froze. What would the king have to do with his step-father?

He took Nami's hand in his, gently clasping it after he had calmed down. Surprisingly she didn't withdraw her hand from his shoulder, or even notice for that matter. Nami leaned against him and sighed again, continuing to break the silence. "There's also this boy that I saw when I was writing the invitations. He was in Zolo's dungeons with shackles on his wrists. Had on a red sea vest and…."

Pausing and glancing up to meet Luffy's eyes, she thought that she….no it couldn't be…not here anyway. Nami laughed softly at the thought that the boy that she had seen would possibly be the one she was with right now. Impossible!

"Anyway," she continued, hoping that Lawrence wouldn't be too uncomfortable about her not finishing the story, "He also wore blue shorts and yellow sandals. Sadly, the chains were so short against the wall that when he tried to scratch his head, he couldn't reach it. At that point I knew that this one boy meant something very special to me. Unfortunately I also knew I would never be able to see him again, since my father wouldn't have been able to free him. But hopefully this ball will make me forget about him, although it's not unlikely since I'm talking about him to you."

Shock registered all over Luffy's face. She had seen him! Now was the time to act! He had to tell her!

He lifted Nami's shoulders up, turning her to face him. "Nami I have to tell you something!"

Around that moment the clock struck twelve, making tens of thousands of red and gold fireworks shoot up into the sky from across the pond, illuminating the two of them. Nami gasped in awe. Shanks must have decided this. For Luffy, although the fireworks were beautiful, twelve o' clock meant only one thing.

The time that Zolo, Sanji, and Helmeppo would leave the ball!

He knew there was no possible way he could stay without them figuring out that he had gone to the ball. If they did, then he would probably be locked in the dungeons for the rest of his life, or something worse!

Knowing that his time here was limited, Luffy decided that it was better for Nami not to know that he was the boy that she had seen and risk humiliation or rejection from the girl that he had grown to love and who's heart he did not want to see broken because of a lie. He had to act fast!

"Nami!" He shouted over the loud boom of the fireworks.

"Was there something you wanted to tell me, Lawrence? " Nami asked loudly.

Luffy started to fidget nervously. He had to leave quickly! "I…I-I have to go!"

He started to run up the stairs. Nami, confused, held her dress and ran after him all the way to the door, which opened. "Lawrence wait!" Nami yelled, almost out of breath, "Wh-why are you leaving?"

Sadly, before she could catch him, his carriage rolled out of sight and down the pathway towards the gates. As she watched him go, waiting at the doors, a glint on the ground caught her eye. Reaching down, Nami picked up an emerald ring that someone had dropped on their way out, looking at it closely.

_I wonder who's this is?_ She thought to herself as she made her way back into the castle

* * *

Meanwhile Luffy was hightailing it back to Zolo's castle at breakneck speed so he could be home before his step-father or step-brothers ever found out he was gone. Luckily he made it just in time to see that there was no carriage, meaning that they hadn't gotten home yet.

Sneaking into the stable, he put the horse up, which was panting and covered with sweat, then, after he buried the clothes that he had wore to the ball, he stretched his arm up to the back balcony leading into Sanji's bedroom, grabbing the stone railing and swinging with all his might, flew up and landed in the room with time to spare to get back into the position where he was before he snuck out to the ball.

As he clinked the last shackle together and threw the key back to its original spot, he leaned his head back and smiled, his mind wandering back to this night, the most magical night of his life and the girl that had captured his heart so much that he never wanted her to let go.

* * *

_**Whew! Gosh that was such a long chapter! I actually had a lot of trouble with this chapter just because as I said earlier I'm not very good at writing love scenes. Plus my computer has been out of commission for some time, and also work, which takes some of my time but not all of it. It is actually 1:00 am right now as I'm writing this and I am mentally exhausted. I had TWO writer's blocks on this chapter just because it was the most important scene in the story, and I did not want to disappoint my readers. Thank you all for your support of this story and I shall be back with chapter 9! I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight!**_

_**~Tatertwig45 **_


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